Build Up Your Faith

We’ve been studying the epistle of Jude. He’s telling us how to avoid the traps of false teachers.

In my last post, Jude dealt with the difference between ministry in the natural versus ministry in the spirit. So it’s important to note that this next verse follows right on the heels of that concept.

But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.

Jude 1:20

What you need to note about this verse is that the word and is not in the Greek text. It should read, build yourselves up…praying in the Holy Spirit. What we need to realize is that God wants to explain things to us on His level.

In my last post, we saw from Paul’s writings, that it’s through prayer in the spirit that we receive wisdom and revelation beyond our natural understanding. We can tap into the mind of the Holy Spirit.

When I pray in the gift, I build up my most holy faith. This is the faith that’s resident in my spirit. It’s a faith that goes beyond what I know about the Scripture or the situation I’m in.

There are times when there may not even be a Biblical verse that covers my situation. What do I do then? I pray in the Spirit. This helps me to trust God when there seems to be no earthly reason to put my faith in Him. It’s a faith that goes beyond what my mind can understand.

This an important concept, especially when taken in the context of this whole letter. If you remember, Jude’s reason for writing this is get us to “contend for the faith” that was entrusted to us.

That should remind us of something. He’s not the only Biblical writer to talk about the battle we’re in.

In Ephesians, chapter 6, Paul talks about the spiritual battle that’s taking place around us. He shows us the Armor of God that we have access to. Then, he concludes with these words.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 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.

Ephesians 6:17-18 NIV

I am looking at these two verses because in the Greek original, they’re all one long sentence. Another important point is that the original actually says “through” or “by means of prayer in the spirit”.

Paul talks about our battle with the enemy while Jude deals with battling false teaching. But in both cases, they equipped themselves for battle the same way.

We face battles every day. There are many directions that the attack may come from. It could be our flesh, the world system, or the demonic kingdom.

In all cases, we prepare for this struggle in the same way. Both Paul and Jude talked about their battles. They were two different people in two different struggles. Yet they both concluded that it was prayer in the spirit that would prepare them for victory.

I don’t know how anybody could read this and say that the gift of tongues is not for today. We can’t win the victory without it.

Prepare for the battles you’re about to face. Spend some quality time praying in the spirit.

Question: How much time are you spending in prayer for what you’ll face this year?

© 2026 Nick Zaccardi