Several years back I listened to a couple of sermons John Piper preached about praying in the Holy Spirit. He spent one sermon asking, Why we should pray in the Holy Spirit? And in the next sermon he asked two follow up questions: What does it mean to pray in the Holy Spirit? And how do we do that?
It was what Piper said about that final question, the “how” question, that has stuck with me:
Now here’s the question, “How do you do that? How?”
I wish I could make you feel how big this is to me. How big it is. This is big. The how question is big. You might think, “Oh, here comes the practical application and that’s–we had theology–but now here comes the nitty gritty practical application, and that’s lower level importance.”
That’s not how I think about how questions. You know what “how” is? “How” is Christianity. This is Christianity. I’m about to talk about Christianity. I’ve been talking foundations, now the question is, “Do you get it and be it and do it and live it?” If you don’t, there is no Christianity.
John Piper, Learning to Pray in the Spirit Part 2
So I know that whatever I do, I’m to work at it with all my heart for the Lord. But how do I do that when I have to load the dishwasher again?
I know I’m not supposed to be anxious about anything. But how do I stop being anxious when my heart is racing and my prayers don’t seem to fix it?
I know I’m supposed to be humble. But how do I quit thinking I’m more significant than my husband? my children? the woman with Downs syndrom?
That’s the “how” question. That is Christianity.
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