"praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints."
â Ephesians 6:18
Quick Answer
Praying in the Spirit means praying under the Holy Spirit's guidance and power rather than by human effort alone, sensitive to his leading, saturated with Scripture he inspired, and, for some believers, including prayer in tongues (Ephesians 6:18; Jude 1:20; 1 Corinthians 14:15). At its core, it means letting the Spirit, not our own willpower, animate our prayer.
A Phrase Christians Use Differently
Praying in the Spirit is a phrase you have probably heard used in more than one way, sometimes referring to a particular style of ecstatic or emotionally intense prayer, sometimes referring simply to any prayer offered with sincere faith. Because Christians across traditions differ on some of the details, it is worth going carefully to what Scripture actually says, rather than assuming one church's usage settles the question for everyone.
The phrase itself appears explicitly in a few key passages, Ephesians 6:18, Jude 1:20, and, in a related sense, 1 Corinthians 14:15. Together they paint a picture broader and richer than any single practice.
The Core Meaning: Spirit-Empowered Prayer
At its most basic, praying in the Spirit describes prayer that flows from and depends on the Holy Spirit rather than from raw human willpower or religious technique. Paul tells the Ephesians to pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication, as part of the armor of God (Ephesians 6:18), immediately after describing spiritual warfare, suggesting that Spirit-empowered prayer is essential ammunition in that battle. Jude similarly instructs believers to build themselves up praying in the Holy Spirit (Jude 1:20), connecting it to spiritual growth and staying in the love of God (Jude 1:21).
This kind of prayer is marked by sensitivity to the Spirit's leading, being willing to pray about what he brings to mind rather than only what we planned to say, letting conviction of sin surface honestly (John 16:8), and letting Scripture, which the Spirit inspired (2 Timothy 3:16), shape the actual content of our requests. In this sense, every believer who prays sincerely, relying on God rather than performance, is praying in the Spirit, whether or not the experience feels dramatic.
Does It Include Praying in Tongues?
In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul contrasts praying with my spirit, often understood as praying in tongues, with praying with my mind in a known language, and says both have their place, though he prefers intelligible prayer in the gathered church for the sake of others (1 Corinthians 14:14-19). For believers who hold that the gift of tongues continues today, this passage is often connected to praying in the Spirit, understood as Spirit-enabled prayer that goes beyond ordinary, planned language.
Faithful Christians differ on this point. Some believe the gift of tongues described in Acts and 1 Corinthians continues in the church today as one expression of praying in the Spirit; others believe it served a specific role in the apostolic era tied to confirming the gospel's spread and has since ceased, without denying the Spirit's ongoing empowerment of all prayer. Both groups can affirm, without disagreement, that praying in the Spirit fundamentally means prayer empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit, the disagreement is only about whether tongues remain one specific form that takes.
What This Looks Like in Daily Prayer
Practically, praying in the Spirit means beginning prayer with dependence rather than mere routine, asking the Spirit to teach you what to pray, as the disciples asked Jesus (Luke 11:1), and staying open to being redirected mid-prayer toward a person, sin, or need you had not planned to mention. It means letting Scripture saturate your prayers, since the Spirit who inspired the Bible delights to pray its truths back to the Father through you.
It also means persevering rather than giving up quickly, since Paul pairs praying in the Spirit with keeping alert with all perseverance (Ephesians 6:18). Spirit-led prayer is not necessarily emotionally dramatic; it can be quiet, steady, and unremarkable in feeling while still being genuinely dependent on the Spirit's power rather than human effort.
Guarding Against Confusion
It is worth guarding against two opposite errors here. One is treating praying in the Spirit as a special, more spiritual category of prayer available only to an elite few with a particular gift, leaving ordinary believers feeling like second-class pray-ers. The other is treating the phrase as though it means nothing distinct at all, ignoring that Scripture clearly connects it to the Spirit's active, personal involvement in our prayer.
The safest path is Paul's own: pray sincerely, pray dependently, pray with your understanding engaged (1 Corinthians 14:15), and trust that whatever specific form it takes for you, the Holy Spirit is genuinely present and active whenever a believer turns to God in honest prayer (Romans 8:26-27).