Jude 1:17:22 –17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Yesterday we discussed the first paragraph.
Today we’ll discuss the second paragraph.
We need to pray in the Spirit of God. It mentions it in Ephesians when talking about the full armor of God.
Ephesians 6:17-18 – 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
We need to pray in the Spirit when we pray. Why? Because there are a lot of people that pray for their selfish desires. Not needs, but desires that are not of God.
Here’s an example of two prayers.
First prayer. Lord please help me to reach others with your Word so they may find You and have a
relationship with You.
Second prayer. Lord please give me more money that I can spend on some great things that I’ve
always wanted to buy. I know if I could just have this I would really be fulfilled.
I tried to make it obvious in the two prayers by having them on each end of the spectrum.
One is for the Kingdom of the Lord and comes from the Spirit of God. The other is not at all and is of
the world. We need to pray in the Spirit so His thoughts can be more of our thoughts.
Once we get to the point of praying in the Holy Spirit for the things of God we need to stay there.
Verse 21 encourages us to keep ourselves in God’s love.
Tomorrow we will finish up with verses 22 & 23.