Joseph Prince - How to Pray When You Don't Know How to Pray
The Lord spoke to me and the Lord said to me to tell all of us to pray in the Spirit regularly, at least every day. Spend some time, at least half an hour to one hour. Set aside time, and it doesn’t mean that you must observe it legalistically every day. In Jesus’s name, I pray, and start praying in tongues, amen. At least for half an hour to one hour, okay? Praise the Lord. Every day. Will you do that, amen? And there’s a promise. And when he spoke to me, he also gave me this portion of scripture. This is what the Lord said to me from this portion here.
«So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun». So something’s gonna happen, all right, that will cause the people—and this is a prophecy, by the way, in Isaiah 59. «The people will fear the name of the LORD,» that’s the name of Jesus, «from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun». That’s the east. «When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him».
In those days, they will carry their banner, amen? And with that banner, they will go into the battle, amen? When they lift their banner again in the battle, that means they have won the victory. Those who banners were fallen, they have been defeated. And Bible says, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord, will lift up a standard against the enemy. When he comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. And what is this standard? It goes on to say: «'The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob, ' Says the LORD».
Now, this is a promise that is repeated by Paul in the book of Romans. And he goes on to say, «'As for Me, ' says the LORD, 'this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth.'» Notice this, this is talking about a covenant, a new covenant. «'As for Me, this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth.'» That sounds like Joshua 1:8. «'Nor from the mouth of your descendants, '» your children, «'nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants, '» those are your grandchildren, «says the LORD, 'from this time and forevermore.'»
What do you reckon are those words? What do you think is this new covenant? God says, this new covenant, I’m going to put my words in your mouth and in the mouth of your children and in the mouth of your grandchildren. And before he says that he’ll put his words, he says, my Spirit, my Holy Spirit, the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit will be upon you. My Spirit will be upon you and you will speak the words that I put in your mouth. And friend, the whole context there is how he will lift up a standard against the enemy when the enemy comes in like a flood, amen.
We pray in the Spirit. We pray in tongues, hallelujah. When the Holy Spirit came in the Upper room on all the disciples, the Bible tells us when the Spirit came on them, what happened to their mouth? Their mouth was filled with words, hallelujah, spiritual words. Paul talks about spiritual words that man’s wisdom does not teach but which the Spirit teaches. Not in words of man’s wisdom but in the words which the Holy Ghost teaches. That’s what Paul says in Corinthians. Another place in Corinthians, Paul says, howbeit when you pray in tongues. When you pray in tongues, howbeit in the Spirit, he speaks mysteries. And no wonder the apostle Paul, who wrote three-fourths of the New Testament, he was able to understand the mysteries hidden in the Old Testament, hidden from the foundation of the world but was revealed in the New Testament.
And every time Paul says, «Behold, I show you a mystery,» you wonder how he got that mystery, amen? He’s talking about the mystery of the church that was hidden in the Old Testament. The mystery of marriage, which is Christ and the church, which was hidden. «Behold, I show you a mystery,» Christ and the church when he talked about marriage. And he talked about the mystery of godliness. God incarnate in human flesh, hallelujah. The mystery of godliness. He talks about even the mystery of iniquity, how it works, amen. Mystery, mysterion in the Greek. Mystery in the New Covenant is not something still hidden. Mystery in the New Covenant, whenever you find the word «mystery,» that means it was once a mystery, but it’s now unveiled. It is now revealed, hallelujah. Praise the Lord, amen. So when you pray in tongues, howbeit?
Paul says, «Whoever speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not unto men, but unto God. Howbeit,» that word, «howbeit,» means the modus operandi. How does it work? Howbeit in the Spirit, he is speaking mysteries. The same word for the mystery of the church. And God will reveal to you in your spirit man revelations. And that’s why when you pray in the Spirit a lot, the Word of God comes to life, hallelujah. It must be something powerful. What was the law that could not give man the strength to be holy came on the Mount Zion, not on Mount Sinai, as the Spirit, amen. On Mount Sinai, God gave the Ten Commandments, God gave the law and 3000 people died. It was the first feast of Pentecost. But here, when the day of Pentecost was fully come, on Mount Zion, not Mount Sinai, Mount Zion, God gave the Spirit, not the law. And 3000 people were saved.
And that’s why the apostle Paul says the letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives life. So what was the law, and the Bible says, but the law is the knowledge of sin. When the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And people still don’t understand what it means to be dead to the law. They think that, oh, you can go ahead and sin and it doesn’t really matter anymore. What you’re saying, you’re dead to the law, you can just go ahead and sin. That’s the furthest from Paul’s mind and from my teaching. I want to share with you a testimony that will bless you and encourage you.
Here’s a brother from Ohio, the United States, and he shares, «I have been a Christian my entire life, but my lifestyle had not been a worthy representation for Christ even though the Lord had blessed me richly. I was a CEO in a non-profit organization and had tried my best to be a good influence for my employees and those I served. But I lived a secret life, dominated by pot smoking, alcohol, and pornography. I knew I was leading a double life. Needless to say, despite my best intentions, I lost my job, my reputation was tarnished, and all that I had built up was torn down. During that time, I kept asking God to forgive me and change my heart. I knew I couldn’t become the person I wanted to be without the help of the Holy Spirit. But no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t change my behavior. Then, I found Pastor Prince’s program on television. And as I listened to his teaching on God’s grace, my spirit started to stir within me. It took many months of listening before anything changed in my life. Pastor Prince, your message of grace was the turning point for me. When I heard God loves me and cares for me, even as I struggled with my sins, my heart was moved and I knew it was time to change».
Notice it’s the goodness of God that leads people to repentance. «And you said to remind myself, even in my sin, that I am the righteousness of God in Christ». You see, in your sin, the Bible says, knowing this, one of the provisions of Christ on that cross is also this, Romans 6:6: «Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be put away,» all right, «might be destroyed,» in the King James, but actually be put out of action in the Greek, that we should not serve sin. So our old man was crucified with Christ. So every time you have a temptation, right, you must not acknowledge the old man as if he’s alive. But he feels alive. The temptations are so real, amen? And you feel the pull towards that direction. And yet, you must not acknowledge that it is alive. Don’t compliment him, the old man, by acting like he’s alive.
«I’ll struggle against it». When you struggle against it, you’re actually saying he’s alive. When you are cognizant of him, when you recognize him, when you fight against him, what you are saying is that my old man is still alive. So what’s the right posture? You drop down to verse 11 in Romans 6, it says: «Likewise reckon yourself dead indeed unto sin». And the verse before that says: «Christ died to sin on the cross once and for all. Likewise,» in the same manner, «consider yourself,» it’s a accounting term, consider, take into account, «that you have died to sin».
In other words, my old man that I feel so alive in me, giving me all the wrong desires, different lusts and different feelings of anger or frustration or whatever, all right? I must acknowledge that he’s gone. That all this is like a mirage. To faith, he is gone. He has been dealt with at the cross, hallelujah. To God, he doesn’t exist. Now, to experience, he exists. But to faith, faith agrees with God and say he is gone. So don’t act and don’t pray even against it because if you pray against him, right, you’ll find that as you are praying, you fall into sin. Have you experienced that before?
So the best approach is the Bible approach. Consider it done. That old man was crucified. That’s the word «reckon» or «impute,» amen? Praise the Lord. And «You said to remind myself even in my sin that I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I did that and I also started partaking of the Holy Communion daily. I also received a vision that inspired me to change the way I was living». All this came from God. «With the help of the Holy Spirit, I lost the desire to smoke pot, drink, and watch pornography». Friend, true deliverance is losing the desire for that thing. It’s not just, «I still want it, I still want it, but I’m controlling myself».
That is not deliverance. You are still trying to control yourself by your fleshly effort, and soon enough, you will break free, all right, from that, you know, and what is going to happen? You’re going to binge on it. That’s what the flesh does. True deliverance is by the Holy Spirit. That’s why grace is all about heart transformation. It’s not about behavior modification, amen? «So with the help of the Holy Spirit, I lost the desire to smoke pot, drink, and watch pornography. Today, I’m delivered from my shameful addictions and have joined a local church where I can enjoy the company of fellow believers. I earnestly seek God’s will for me and ask for him to complete the plan he has started in me.
Thank you, Pastor Prince, for your teachings because they have changed my life and I can become the person God wants me to be. Now I wish to serve God and be an instrument of his grace and love. God bless you for reminding me how much God loves me». Isn’t it amazing? Such effects of my so-called «erroneous» and «heretical» teachings. To God be the glory, hallelujah. I’m going to show you right now the new covenant way of walking with God. It’s in Galatians 5, verse 16: «I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh,» amen.
So here, we have a more intimate walk. Walk in the Spirit. Now, how do you walk in the Spirit? You’re not walking with the Spirit. You’re not walking before the Spirit. That will indicate that the Holy Spirit is outside you. And don’t forget, the Holy Spirit is God himself, amen, one of the Godhead, amen? The divine person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. And here, he’s not talking about you walking with the Holy Spirit or walking before the Holy Spirit, which all indicates he’s still outside you, but you’re walking in the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah, you’re walking in the Spirit.
That is a very intimate term because, you know, the real you is actually a spirit. God made you in his image. God made you a spirit. You are a tripartite being. You are a spirit being, you have a soul, amen. Your soul is not the real you, okay? The real you is a spirit. And you have a soul, right? I am a spirit. I have a soul. And the soul is the mind, the will, the emotions. All that is a soul realm. And you live in a body. So there are three parts to you. You’re also tripartite, amen? There are three parts to you. So you are a spirit, you have a soul, you live in a body. Guess what, it’s a picture of the tabernacle.
The old tabernacle of Moses, you find there are three parts to it. The outer court, which is your body, right? The holy place, which is your soul. And then the Holy of Holies is where the Ark of the Covenant is and God’s presence and Shekinah glory is there. That’s the spirit. It’s the most intimate part. That’s why when you pray in the Spirit, howbeit in the Spirit? When you pray in tongues, you are praying in the Spirit. By the way, anyone that tells you you are praying in the Spirit means you are praying with more gumption and more power and more passion, that’s not praying in the Spirit. Bible must define Bible, okay? Paul says, «I’ll sing with the Spirit and I’ll sing with the understanding». That means what?
I’ll pray in tongues and I’ll pray with understanding. I’ll sing in the Spirit and I’ll sing with the understanding, okay? So, he is saying very clearly that «wherefore, if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays». Paul says, «If I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays. The most intimate part of me is praying». And that’s what the Bible says about praying in the Holy Spirit. In Jude, it says praying in the Holy Spirit, it goes together with building up yourselves on your most holy faith. Praying in the Holy Spirit. Building up yourself on what? Your most holy faith. Why is that most holy? Many years ago, I was meditating on this and the Lord began to show me that when you pray in the Spirit, because the next verse says, «pray in the Holy Spirit».
When you pray in the Holy Spirit, you are praying from your most holy place, the Holy of Holies, most holy means Holy of Holies. You are the temple of God. Which part of you is the Holy of Holies? Your spirit man, so when you pray in tongues, that prayer does not come from your head. That’s why, you know, you pray in understanding, pray in English, your native language for a while and you stop. You run out of thoughts, you run out of words, you run out of ideas to talk with God. But when you pray in the Spirit, you can do it all day long, even in undertones. You are praying from your most holy place. That’s why it’s called building yourself on your most holy faith. The Holy of Holies, most holy. Praying in the Holy Spirit, hallelujah.
And it says: «Keep yourself in the love of God». You’ll keep yourself in the place where the love of God and all he provides for you will be there, praise God, thank you, Jesus. You keep yourself in the consciousness of the love of God by praying in the Holy Spirit. So it’s sandwiched by building your most holy faith, keeping yourself in the love of God. And what is in between? Praying in the Holy Spirit, hallelujah. Friend, this is a gift that is one of the least esteemed in the body of Christ. Yet when I study the scriptures with no prejudice and I just look at the scriptures as it is, I find that the Bible emphasizes a lot on praying in tongues.
Now, you might say, well, in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul is saying that prophecy is better. No, no. Paul is not saying that. Paul is saying that in the church, prophecy is better than someone speaking out in tongues because the others do not know what he’s saying. But when you’re speaking in tongues, you’re not talking to others. There is a gift called the gift of tongues. Not everyone can speak the gift of tongues like the gift of the word of wisdom, the gift of healings, the gift of working of miracles. All that are gifts of the Holy Spirit. But that’s not the… and one of them is the gift of tongues. One of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit is the gift of tongues. That is not what we are referring to.
When you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you speak in tongues, that’s your prayer language. The gift of tongues must be interpreted. And some people have it, some people don’t. There are so many of you who are not baptized in the Holy Spirit, my friend. Oh, listen, listen. You know, this David Wilkerson who worked among the drug addicts and the gangs of New York in the '50s. And you know, this is what he said. He said that he tried his best to get them to kick the drug habit and addiction and all that. But, you know, they always fall back to drug addiction until he baptized them in the Holy Spirit. So it’s not enough just to be saved, but when they’re baptized in the Holy Spirit, they were delivered from drug addiction, just like that, with no… cold turkey.
Same thing for Jackie Pullinger in her book, «Chasing the Dragon». Jackie Pullinger is an amazing lady who went to Hong Kong, to the area where the gangs and the pimps and the prostitutes and drug addicts are in Hong Kong during the '60s. And she said that when she was there, all by herself, she had to learn the language, speak Cantonese, learn Cantonese and work among the gangs and all that. But you know what, she was baptized in the Spirit and the only thing that sustained her was she kept on praying in the Spirit. She kept on praying in the Spirit.
And then she noticed when when she prayed for others, the people who are drug addicts, they can’t kick the habit. Even after they’re saved, they received Christ, they still can’t break the habit. But when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, she noticed the same thing that David Wilkerson noticed. She noticed that they all just broke free from the addiction without any cold turkey, hallelujah. There is something here that the church has missed. The church has despised the gift of tongues, amen, the prayer language of the Holy Spirit. And yet Jesus talked about it, Paul majored on it. And we have misinterpreted what Paul said. I think the enemy is behind this. The devil is trying to take away this powerful ingredient from the body of Christ. It’s the missing ingredient that the book of Acts was full of.
So friend, right now, if you’ve never been baptized in the Holy Spirit, there’s a whole lot of you who have joined us this past years and all that, and you have still not baptized in the Holy Spirit. You need to, amen? And it’s not hard. It’s a gift to be received, amen? And it’s not dependent on you. It’s dependent on the fact Jesus has been glorified. Like that verse I said just now, the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. But Jesus has been glorified. So friends, stand to your feet right now, wherever you are, amen. Do it right now.
Stand to your feet. And in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, pray this prayer with me right now. Say: «Father, I thank you for the gift of the wonderful Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus, right now, baptize me with the Holy Spirit, with speaking in tongues, right now in Jesus’s name». And friend, right now in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, be filled with the Holy Spirit in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now begin to speak in tongues right now. Go ahead, amen. Start speaking in tongues. Even if you have one word, say it out, amen. The Holy Spirit will not force you to say something. That will be an evil spirit. God’s Word doesn’t force, amen? When you hear that word, speak it out. Go ahead. Go on, just pray in the Spirit, amen?
Don’t wait to be taken over. That’s an evil spirit. That’s how he operates. The Holy Spirit wants your cooperation. The Bible says: «God fills you as the Spirit gave them utterance». That means you need to utter it, amen? The Holy Spirit gives you the utterance but you need to utter it, amen? So go ahead. You have received it in Jesus’s name. Yeah, you find that some people find their tongue getting a bit heavy or they find that their mouth is full, don’t clamp your mouth, open up, amen? Yeah, that’s right. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Pray in the Spirit in Jesus’s name. You can even sing in the Spirit, right now.
I like to do this in the shower. When I’m feeling stressed especially, I like to sing in the Spirit. And notice you can stop whenever you want to and you can start again if you want to. That’s the true gift because God always works with cooperation. He doesn’t force you like a demon possessing someone. That’s forcing. No, you can start again. I encourage you to pray lots, amen? Pray for a protracted period of time. Pray until your mouth is dry. You don’t have to pray out loud. You can pray undertones. When people are around, you can pray undertones.
The Bible says: «Let him speak to himself and to God,» amen? That’s speaking undertones, amen. But I’m telling you, I don’t know how long, but sometimes for me, five days of praying in the Spirit, I had the breakthrough that nowadays when I pray in the Spirit for one day, I had the breakthrough that used to take me five days. So I’m not saying that your experience will be the same as mine, I’m just saying, keep on praying in the Spirit. And know all the benefits. When you’re praying in the Spirit, keep the Spirit in your mouth, amen, praise the Lord.
God says the more you pray in the Spirit, it will affect your children. It will affect your children’s children, amen. It will lift up the banner against the evil spirit that’s trying to bring this flood of destruction upon the world. Don’t forget that, amen? When you pray in the Spirit, your health will not fail. You’ll always be green, always be young. When you pray in the Spirit, that’s satisfying your mouth with good. I believe that’s the good. It’s not food, it’s the good of God, amen, the gift of praying in the Spirit. «Satisfy your mouth with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s,» amen, amen. «And whatever you do will prosper,» amen? Praise the Lord.