David Diga Hernandez - The Secret to Effective Prayer

Hello, this is David Diga Hernandez, and you are watching Spirit Church here on the Encounter TV Network. More than it will change anyone or anything else, prayer will change the one who prays. I want to give you the secret to effective prayer. Once you learn this, your prayer life will never be the same again. First, Steven Moctezuma is here with me; he’s going to lead you in some very anointed worship, and then we’re going to get right into this message.

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Days before you can understand prayer, you must understand your relationship with the Holy Spirit and what He accomplishes through you in your life. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, beginning at verse 10, we see the Scripture says, «But it was to us that God revealed these things by His Spirit, for His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.» We have received God’s Spirit—not the world’s spirit—so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. We have to realize that the Holy Spirit has been united with us in oneness; you and the Holy Spirit are one Spirit. It is out of that oneness that you pray; it is out of that connection, out of that fellowship, that you begin to search the depths of God. When you go to pray, recognize that the Holy Spirit is the one guiding your path, that the Holy Spirit is the one lighting your way. The Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit searches the deep things of God. He understands the mind of God; He understands the will of God; He understands the plans of God; He understands the nature of God; He understands the power of God. He understands all of these aspects of God to the fullest of their capacity. He lacks no understanding; He lacks no revelation, and He has given that to you and me in our spirit. If I can put it to you boldly, I would say you already know God. You’re already connected with God; you’re already one with God. You already have revelation; you already have power; you already have the ability to live life in the Spirit. Why? Because deep within your spirit, there’s a fellowship that takes place 24/7, with or without your awareness, and that is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and the Father taking place within you. You see, you may not understand with your carnal mind; you may not understand with your emotions, but in the Spirit, you already have full understanding. Therefore, prayer is not a means to connect with God; prayer is done out of a connection that is already there. So, this key to prayer is the person of the Holy Spirit; He’s the one who guides us, He’s the one who speaks to us, and tells us what we should pray in each and every moment. People often ask, «What do I do when I don’t know what to pray?» Well, there are many options. You can pray in the Spirit, meaning pray in tongues. You can speak to the Holy Spirit and say, «Help me, guide me, lead me, show me what I should pray for, show me who I should pray for, show me how I should pray.» As you do this, you will notice a rhythm in the Spirit beginning to pick up. When you go to pray, know that this rhythm is really guided by the Spirit of God; it’s a matter of surrendering to Him. When it comes to matters of the Spirit, we must know that you cannot fight the Holy Spirit, and you cannot force the Holy Spirit. No, when it comes to moving with the Spirit, we simply must flow; we simply must surrender, like an eagle surrendering to the wind, like a sailboat surrendering to the wind. We must surrender to the wind of the Spirit, the breath of God, and receive that direction and allow Him to move us in the depths of the Spirit. When we go to pray, we often ask, «How should I do it? Should I sit, should I stand, should I pace, should I stay still, should I yell, should I whisper, should I just think the prayers within my mind, and can God work effectively through that?» Here’s what you should do: you should simply ask the Holy Spirit, «What is it you want me to do in this moment? How do you want me to approach God in this moment?» The Holy Spirit, who is faithful, will guide you. The more you pray, the more you seek Him, the more you will realize that there is a natural flow to the Spirit. There is a natural flow to prayer; it’s not something you have to organize, it’s not something you can systematize, it’s not something you can discover through a formula. It’s something that you simply sense that cannot really be described unless you’ve experienced it. So, how do you position yourself to that? Well, it’s very simple. The Scripture tells us in Romans 8, verses 26-27. It says, «And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father, who knows all hearts, knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.» Let’s break this down. The Scripture says the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. In other words, we don’t know how to pray, we don’t know how to focus, we don’t know how to seek God, we don’t know how to discover His presence. We’re weak, we’re unable apart from the help of the Holy Spirit. We’re lost, we’re floundering in nothingness; we’ll never accomplish anything unless it’s by the Holy Spirit.