We must understand that one of the hindrances to prayer and walking in the Spirit is the flesh, known as the human body (Galatians 5:17). Jesus confirms this when He found His disciples sleeping when they were supposed to be praying; He said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).
In order to engage in prayer successfully, we must be able to distinguish between the human spirit and the flesh — this will be explained in the next blog.
Once we are praying in the Spirit and can clearly tell our spirit apart from the flesh, we must look to the Holy Spirit in prayer. As Scripture says: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26).
It is the Holy Spirit’s role to reveal His Word to us during prayer, and He enables us to persevere in prayer far beyond what the flesh can sustain (Ephesians 1:18).
We also need to understand that there are different dimensions and kinds of prayer, which we will explore in the next blog.