Sailing in prayer by the Wind of the Spirit – though I’ve had little to do with them I’ve always been drawn to sailboats and ships. There’s something special about only using the power of the wind to sail the seas.
It wasn’t just sailing boats – as a young boy I was given a book about sailplanes. I became fascinated. Years later – as a New Ager – I got hooked into reading Richard Bach’s books. Bach was a pilot and I’d never been in a plane before. So, on a brief whim, I decided to take some flying lessons.
During one pleasantly warm autumn afternoon my flying instructor guided away from the noisy, smoky city into the beautiful North Country. The sun was settling gently into the West and I was enjoying my lesson. At one point the instructor told me to bank the Cessna slightly and look down. Far below me were several sailplanes gliding slowly and silently, riding solely on the power of the gentle wind. I was awestruck, and have never forgotten that surreal scene.
It all came back to me as I was reading the book “Developing a Healthy Prayer Life” – which I reviewed HERE. The verse for chapter 18 “Pray by the Spirit” is Romans 8:26
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words
The authors give the example of a sailboat. A person cannot provide the wind power to sail the boat. One cannot produce one’s own wind by fanning object on the boat. Beeke & Beeke note that sailboats aren’t designed to run on their own force; they must receive power from outside of themselves – from the wind.
The same is true of the Christian and prayer:
We try to produce “the wind” of our best sincerities and intentions; we try our best [Christian] meditation books, our favorite parts of Scripture, but we still do not move. We try to fill our sails with our favorite expressions and best feelings, but our sails remain limp.
As frustrating as this can be, the authors tell us that this experience can be a useful lesson. We wouldn’t raise our sails if we thought we didn’t need the wind. Raising the sail is “and action of dependency – a confession that we need the wind.” So our lack of “self-power” is the “very reason for hoisting the sail.”
We raise the sail of prayer we catch the wind and the movement of the Holy Spirit,
We are called to set the sail, to actively use God’s means of grace, but only the Spirit can breathe wind into the sails and move the ship…Happily the Spirit delights to blow upon the sails of our ship through His intercession.
Beeke & Beeke also warn that sometimes it seems to us that our sailboat isn’t moving. It may even appear that we’re moving backward when we look at the water. Yet if we check our original location we can see that we have gradually moved forward. The same applies to prayer.
According to the authors,
Not all movements of the Spirit are strong winds; most are gentle breezes…If there are times when the breezes and winds of deep desire, longings, and groanings fill the sails of your soul, is this a movement of yourself?.. If the wind dies down for a time, what do true sailors do? They keep their sails up, trusting that the wind will blow in their direction again.
In other words we cannot help ourselves. We must keep our sails up, but the movement is only accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit working through us, and interceding for us.
The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. John 3:8
Maranatha!
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