Give Me 23 Minutes and I'll Save You Years of Weak Prayers

I wanna talk to you about how the Holy Spirit helps you to pray. Maybe you're someone who's frustrated with your prayer life. You don't pray as often as you know you should. You're not as consistent as you want to be. And then when you go to pray, maybe you struggle to find the words.

Maybe you don't know what you should do.

Maybe you don't know what the correct posture in prayer is. And so we have all of these questions, We have all of these shortcomings that ultimately lead to frustration, and that frustration needs to be dealt with, because if you don't deal with that which is frustrating you, you'll never be able to move forward. Prayer is not supposed to be a point of frustration for Christians. How do I fix this? What exactly do I do? I'm gonna show you how the Holy Spirit helps you. Number 1, the Holy Spirit reminds you to pray. In John chapter 14, verse 26, we read these words of Jesus: But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative, that is, the Holy Spirit, he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. Jesus taught us to pray; therefore, the Holy Spirit reminds us of that teaching. Anything that Jesus teaches us, the Holy Spirit reminds us of.

Amen.

He teaches you to treat one another well. The Holy Spirit reminds you to treat one another well. He teaches you to yield to the Father. The Holy Spirit will remind you, yield to the Father. Jesus taught us to pray. The Holy Spirit will remind you to pray. And you'll sense those gentle nudges all throughout the day. And what's interesting is that sometimes we're so busy, we're going so fast that we don't even recognize that it was the Holy Spirit speaking to us until the end of the day. When we look back and consider how we sort of just rushed through everything. Worry and hurry go hand in hand.

Faith is settled.

Faith is intentional. Faith moves at the pace of grace. And so as you move about your day, you'll get those gentle nudges. I call them royal invitations.

Amen. Where you will sense him, almost like a hand, pull you away. Just a moment here.

Or you get up and you have your responsibilities on your mind and you want to get right to them. Trust me, I understand. I am the same way. I have my task list and once I have that, it's like I am a programmed robot and I have got to make sure that task is done. I don't hear anyone. I don't think of anything. I can't concentrate until I have gone through those tasks.

Amen.

And that's good in some sense, but it's also not necessarily the most beneficial for spiritual practices.

And that's where the Holy Spirit has to go, wait a minute, why don't you come away just for a second? But I have so many things, Lord.

Like Martha. Martha and Mary. Martha was working for Jesus, Mary was spending time with Jesus, and Jesus says that Mary found the true thing that was needed. How often are we distracted by what we do for him that we don't spend time with him?

And so he says, wait, wait, wait, wait, just come, come just for a second. And here's the thing about the Holy Spirit, I'm gonna tell you this, remember this: the Holy Spirit speaks often in split seconds.

Just that little nudge. You wake up, I gotta get to the day. You wake up, you gotta get the kids ready for school. You wake up, you gotta get to— the Holy Spirit, just that split second, hold on. And we so often in that split second harden our hearts and turn away and move on. Just come away, just a few chapters of the Word. Let me speak to you. We're drawn to it, but then the flesh pulls.

Remember, the spirit is willing, that is, the spirit wants to pray. The spirit wants to spend time with God, but the flesh is weak.

Amen.

In that the flesh pulls us the other direction.

Number 2, the Holy Spirit gives you the desire to pray. So not just direction, but desire. One of my favorite verses on prayer, Psalm 80:18, so will not go back from thee. Quicken us and we will call upon thy name.

Think about that. So will not we go back from thee. Quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. You cannot call upon him unless he's quickened you.

Now, this is a mystery of the Spirit that few believers consider.

You cannot call unto God unless he's first called unto you.

Hmm. Now you say, David, practically speaking, does that mean that I can only pray when God calls me to prayer?

Yes. And you may then wonder, wait a minute, so am I limited?

So sometimes when I go to him, does that mean he hasn't called me?

No, I'm telling you that your desire to pray is itself an invitation to prayer. If you desire to pray, it was the Holy Spirit who gave that to you.

You often see here at this church, people are born again. They respond to the gospel message. Well, who do you think it was that quickened them to respond?

Yes, amen. So the Holy Spirit doesn't just remind you that you should pray, he works on your nature and your heart, causing you to be one who desires the moment of prayer. Amen. And here's the beautiful part. The more you respond to that desire, the stronger that desire will get. That he quickens you And then you call upon him.

Galatians 5:16-18. Paul writes, so I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. What does a sinful nature crave?

Prayerlessness.

Your sinful nature doesn't want to pray. You ever notice that when you first start trying to pray, even your body kind of feels tense?

And you start looking for distraction, for entertainment.

Your mind starts wandering off into responsibilities and problems and concerns and questions and doubts. Why? Because that's your flesh panicking. Your flesh is panicking because when you subject that flesh and say, you're gonna pray, that flesh starts to lose its grip.

You're killing the other you.

Amen.

Amen.

That's why it fights you. That's why when you go to pray, your mind suddenly starts reacting because the flesh is screaming, get me out of here! And you need to grab that other you by the neck and say, listen here, me, we're gonna pray today. And you're gonna lose your power. Amen. So look at that. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to skip prayer. The sinful nature wants to rush past the reading of the Word. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These 2 forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under the obligation to the law of Moses. Now listen, this is powerful because the Holy Spirit doesn't just work on your behaviors. That's one way he works. That's surface level. But the Holy Spirit does such a profound work in you that you'll go from fighting old desires to losing those desires altogether.

Now that is when you're really flowing.

And here's the thing, that's not a permanent state.

You got to fight to keep yourself there. Trust me, I'm not there 24/7. If not for the Holy Spirit, I'd wander off. But he gives you new desires now. To where that old man becomes so weak that the new desires now begin to dominate your new life. And that new desire draws you into the places of prayer. It's the difference between striving and surrendering.

Romans 5:5 declares, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given to us. The Holy Spirit fans into flame the fire of your love for Jesus. A smoldering wick he will not quench, the word declares.

Meaning, if there is even a little ember in you, he is not going to snuff that out. He is going to work with it and fan it into flame.

So you may say, Holy Spirit, I have this thing in me that fights prayer. Please give me that desire for prayer. And if you're not even there yet to where you don't even know if you want to be there, then you can pray, Holy Spirit, I want to want to pray.

And he'll meet you wherever you are. A smoldering wick he will not quench.

Then when you go to pray, number 3, he gives you the words to pray.

What a major help he is.

I used to wonder about prayer.

Is it okay to lie down when I pray? Do you think that's disrespectful, Lord? Am I supposed to pace back and forth like the prayer warriors do? Do I have to yell? Can I whisper? Is it okay to open my eyes or do you not hear me when I open my eyes? What am I supposed to say for the next hour? Do I just repeat the scripture? Do I repeat a list? Am I supposed to pray in English the whole time or can I pray in tongues? And for that matter, is it possible to pray in tongues in your mind? So many questions. And this is where the Holy Spirit comes in, to where he helps you to settle your mind and heart, and then he gives you the words to pray. Look at this, Romans 8:26-27.

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. What a key phrase. I mean, it's all key, but for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. More than just words, he helps you to navigate the realm of Prayer. And as you pray what he prays— think about this.

1 Corinthians 6:17 says, he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

So if I'm one spirit with him and the Holy Spirit prays prayers, then that means I can pray one with him. I can pray what he prays. Amen.

And the Holy Spirit prays for you with groanings. That means he prays with passion and zeal.

And he prays for us, pleads for us in harmony with God's will.

In other words, he aligns us and pulls us into the river of God's will.

You see, God's will is like a fixed river. You cannot pray enough to change the direction of God's will. No amount of pleading with God is going to make him go, you know what?

I never thought of that.

Let me change this. You are right.

Let me fix this.

Prayer does not change his will. Prayer puts you in the river to where now because you are praying the words he has given you, you are praying along with what he declares.

Amen.

Number 4, he gives you the strength to continue to pray. Jude 1:20, but you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith. Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. Now Jude 1:20 often gets conflated for the gift of speaking in tongues. Jude 1:20 is not a direct reference to the gift of tongues.

It's a bigger concept than that.

Praying in the Spirit in Jude 1:20 is not praying in tongues. Praying in the Spirit is to pray according to the will of the Spirit, under the authority of the Holy Spirit, in the power of the Holy Spirit, with the strength of the Holy Spirit.

Basically, praying in the Spirit is to pray in union with him.

And as you do this, he gives you the strength to continue in prayer. So once you get going, you'll, you'll begin to sense it. It's like starting a car. You gotta turn the key, but then the engine takes over. You begin in prayer. At first, there's that rigid, tense movement to your prayer, and then the flesh finally goes away or is so weakened that it cannot fight back. And now you're in a flow. You're praying what the Spirit is telling you to pray, and suddenly there's this strength that comes on you. As you begin to yield and pray what the Spirit has given you to pray, you're aligning yourself with the will of God. Then aligning yourself with the will of God, you come under the authority that he's given you, and now there's strength to your prayers. You know, many times we just emotionally express ourselves in front of God, and that's not the deepest form of prayer.

Sometimes we just worry in front of God and we call that prayer, but true prayer is born of the Spirit. True prayer begins in the work of the Spirit.

Number 5, he gives you focus when you pray. John 16:13-15 declares, howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak.

Amen.

And he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine. Therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you. Jesus is saying, the Holy Spirit will glorify me. That's what Jesus said. So the Holy Spirit draws your attention to Jesus. Please don't misunderstand me when I say there comes a point in prayer where you are mesmerized, to where you've meditated on him as the Holy Spirit has revealed him, and, and now he's captured your attention. And And he becomes the sole focus. Yeah, you have the prayer requests.

Lord, bless me, help me, heal me, strengthen me and my family and everyone I love.

And then you have spiritual warfare. I rebuke the power of the enemy. I come against every attack of the devil. I come against all of the strategies. You pray for your city, you pray for your church. And then you worship, and then you read the word, and then there just comes a moment where It's just him.

And now you're in the highest point, and you are— your soul, your mind, your emotions are held captive by the beauty of his presence. And in that moment, the Holy Spirit is revealing Jesus to you.

Mm.

There are moments when the Holy Spirit can reveal the presence of Jesus in such a way that the presence of Jesus becomes more real than your physical surroundings, where everything fades into the background— every worry, every concern, every attack—

and you go to such a height in glory that you ascend above the noise.

On the mountaintop, there's no concern about what's happening in the valley. But when you go back to the valley, you come with power.

Amen.

And the Holy Spirit helps you do that, to focus on him. That's the Holy Spirit's primary job, is to reveal Jesus. Finally, The Holy Spirit transforms you when you pray. Aren't you glad you don't have to transform yourself?

I know sometimes it feels like you're just going through the motions and you're in this place where you're saying, God, is this having any effect?

Do my prayers even affect my children? Do my prayers even affect my city? Do my prayers even affect me? Am I, am I really being transformed? Let me tell you this. It is impossible to accomplish nothing in true prayer.

Whether you see it or not, whether you feel it or not, whether you believe it or not, whether you think it's rational or not, whether others agree with it or not, every moment of prayer is changing you.

Watch this now. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18. Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory. Even as by the Spirit of the Lord. The veil's been removed. And when you are seeking Jesus, when you are in that moment of prayer, you are capturing a glimpse of who he is, and the Holy Spirit begins to work on your heart.

Mm-hmm.

Some days there's accelerated transformation. We call those encounters with God. Other days you may not feel him, you may not be aware of what he's doing, but there's a little change happening. There's transformation. As you pray, the layers of self begin to fall away, making way for the light of Christ to shine more brightly through you. And as you face him, the Holy Spirit makes you like him. It's not possible To spend time with Jesus and not become more like him.

Are there more stubborn areas within us that take a little while longer?

Yes.

But little by little, you're decreasing, he's increasing. Little by little, No longer I live, but Christ lives in me. This is how the Holy Spirit helps you pray.

It's more than just wagging his finger at you saying, you missed prayer again.

No, he's a helper. He's an advocate. He's a guide. And precious Holy Spirit, I pray for your people even now that you would help them to receive this word with gladness. And Lord, wait, may we, your church, apply these truths as we put our faith in the precious Holy Spirit.

Take us to higher heights and deeper depths.

Make us people of prayer. Make us people of the mountaintop. Let us see you.

Let us know sides of you we've never known before.

We wanna know your nature, your mind, your power, your wisdom, and cause us to be more like you as we spend time with you. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for reminding us to pray, giving us the desire to pray, giving us the words to pray, and all of the strength you give us as we pray, causing us to focus and become more like you.

Amen.

Even now, let us sense your presence. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. And the church said, amen.

Well, I pray that you were encouraged to know that the Holy Spirit is with you every step of the way as you navigate the realm of prayer. I want to encourage you now, if you've been helped by this ministry in any way, To become a monthly ministry supporter. Your monthly support helps our ministry continue on our mission to win souls and build believers through events, media, and church planting. You can become a monthly supporter by going to davidhernandezministries.com/partner. You can also give a single gift by going to davidhernandezministries.com/donate. Whatever you do, large or small, single or monthly, Everything counts. So hear from the Holy Spirit today. Get involved with what God is doing through this ministry and help us win this generation to Jesus. And now check out this teaching on 5 prayers to start your day with the Holy Spirit.