“The quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits” James Clear
As we grow in recognizing His leading we will PRAY according to the CONVICTIONS of the Holy Spirit.
This means we no longer only pray from our emotions. Jesus taught His disciples to hear from the Holy Spirit. In John 16:7-11 the disciples learned that the Holy Spirit brings convictions. At a first read one may think that convictions of the Holy Spirit would be condemning. Certainly, the Holy Spirit does convict us of areas where repentance is required to keep on track in our relationship with Jesus. But in this text we find three convictions. Within the context that Jesus taught His disciples we find convictions of faith, righteousness and victory.
In verse 7 Jesus declares it is expedient that He goes away so that He can send the Holy Spirit to believers.
In verse 8 Jesus reveals that the Holy Spirit will come to the world of guilt in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment. Keep reading and Jesus unfolds a revelation concerning the Holy Spirit that can change our prayer life.
In verse 9 we find that the Holy Spirit convicts us of any areas where we do not believe or have faith in Jesus. In other words, the Holy Spirit convicts us of unbelief. Why? So that we can believe! When the Holy Spirit convicts us of unbelief the end result should simply be repentance of our unbelief. Conviction of our need to believe Jesus’ Word brings us not only to repentance but to a conviction that God’s Word is true. That conviction is then expressed in prayer through our faith.
For example; recently the Holy Spirit convicted me of anxiety. Immediately, based on that conviction, I repented. But I also prayed a prayer of faith that in Christ I have peace that goes beyond my understanding (Philippians 4:6-7). I also remembered that Jesus said in John 14:27 that: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Our prayer time does not end on the conviction of what is wrong, but on what is ours by faith in God’s Word. Thus, our conviction of faith becomes the end result. The Holy Spirit ultimately convicts us of faith!
Verse 10 In regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer. Here we realize that we need to live with a conviction that we have been made righteous by the blood of Jesus. His blood sacrifice is secured for us in heaven. He shed His blood on the mercy seat of heaven. We are made righteous because of His blood, never because of our works. We have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (II Corinthians 5:21). When we maintain this conviction we come boldly to the Throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:14-16) receiving His mercy and finding the grace we need.
Verse 11 In regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. His victory is our victory. When we pray with this conviction, we pray differently. We come from the basic conviction that we are victorious over the devil. I John 3:8 declares: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” Thus we conclude that the Holy Spirit convicts us of faith, righteousness and victory. And this conviction changes how we pray. Indeed!!!
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