Praying in Tongues Edifies Your Spirit
- Michael E.B. Maher
- 2 hours ago
- 6 min read
Acts 2:4 “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Under the old covenant the saints could not be born-again because Jesus had not yet gone to the cross. In other words they were spiritually dead people, even though righteousness had been accounted to them by faith. And so because they were spiritually dead they could not be filled with the Holy Spirit. Under the new covenant however, the saints are born-again, i.e. they are spiritually alive, for it is the spirit of the saint which is born-again and it is the spirit which has become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). And so because our spirits have been made alive, the saints under the new covenant can be filled with the Holy Spirit. There are many benefits to being filled with the Holy Spirit, one of which is that He gives us the gift of speaking in other tongues. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see the account of the saints being filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and we see that all of them were given the gift of other tongues. Every saint that is filled with the Spirit will speak in tongues, for that is the main evidence for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. So what is the reason that the Holy Spirit gives us the gift of other tongues? In order to understand the reason we need to understand what other tongues is. It is a supernatural language that is given to the born-again spirit of the believer.
1 Corinthians 14:15 “What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.”
In the previous section we looked at what we should pray for with our understanding. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul teaches us that we are called to pray with our understanding, but that we are also called to pray with our spirit. In fact significantly in this passage, Paul places praying with the spirit before praying with the understanding. And so in this section we want to discuss the concept of praying with our spirits.
1 Corinthians 14:14 “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.”
So what is the apostle Paul referring to when He tells us in the previous passage to pray with the spirit? He is referring to praying in tongues, for in the above quoted passage of scripture Paul teaches us that when believers pray in tongues they are in fact praying with their spirits. Paul goes on to teach us in this passage that when we pray in tongues that it is in fact our spirit that is praying, and that our understanding (mind) does not play any part in this type of prayer. And so we see why God chose to give the New Testament saints the gift of tongues. It is so that their born-again spirits can pray directly to God, unhindered by their limited understanding.
1 Corinthians 14:2 “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul confirms the truth to us that when we pray in tongues that our spirits are speaking directly to God, and that it is only God and the spirit of the believer that understand what is being prayed at the time. So why is it so important for our spirits to be able to pray directly to God in their own language?
Romans 8:26-27 “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (27) Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul answers the question as to why it is important for our spirits to have their own supernatural language i.e. tongues. In this passage Paul teaches us that we do not know what to pray for as we ought. In other words because our understanding is extremely limited about any given situation, we cannot come close to praying as effectively as we should. Because the Holy Spirit resides in our spirits however, our spirits have a unique advantage in the area of prayer. In this passage Paul teaches us that because the Holy Spirit knows exactly how to pray in every situation, He imparts that information to our spirits, thus enabling our spirits to pray God’s perfect will for the situation in other tongues.
Luke 22:31-32 “And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. (32) But I have prayed for you; that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
The above quoted passage of scripture is a very illustrative example of just how ineffectual our prayers of understanding can be, and why we so desperately need to be able to pray with our spirits. In this passage the Lord Jesus gave us a small glimpse of His prayer life when He walked in the flesh. And so we see in this account that God had revealed to Jesus before the time, what Satan was planning to do in Peter’s life, and how Jesus had prayed for Peter to counter Satan’s plans. Clearly no saints walk in the same level of fellowship with the Father that Jesus did. And so subsequently we don’t hear God telling us what Satan is planning to do in the lives of our fellow saints. And even if we did by some miracle manage to hear God’s voice on any given situation, we wouldn’t have the spiritual insight to pray as effectively for the situation as Jesus did. And so it is only by praying in the spirit that we can overcome the weakness of our extremely limited understanding, and thus pray as effectively as Jesus prayed.
1 Corinthians 14:18-19 “I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; (19) yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.”
The apostle Paul clearly understood the importance of praying with his spirit, for in the above quoted passage of scripture he thanked God that he prayed in tongues more than anyone else. In other words Paul recognised the limitation of praying with his understanding, and thus relied far more heavily on praying with his spirit. In this passage Paul tells us that in a church gathering that he would rather speak five words with his understanding than ten thousand words in a tongue. The reason Paul said that, was so that others would be blessed because they could understand what he was saying. However, Paul is implying in this passage that outside of church i.e. in his prayer closet, that Paul reversed the order. In other words he rather prayed ten thousand words with his spirit than five words with his understanding, and the reason is simply because Paul understood the principle of his spirit being able to pray far more effectively than he could ever pray with his understanding.
Further purposes of praying in tongues
1 Corinthians 14:4 “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.”
Besides praying God’s perfect will for various aspects of our Christian walk, praying in the spirit has other benefits as well. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul teaches us that when we pray in the spirit that our spirits are edified. In other words our spirits become stronger. Remember that scripture teaches us that Jesus, when He was growing up, became strong in spirit (Luke 2:40). And so if our Lord Jesus had to become strong in spirit, how much more do we need to become strong in spirit?
Romans 8:14-16 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. … (16) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
As revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, the saints under the new covenant are led by the Spirit of God, as He bears witness with our spirits as to what God’s will is for our lives. And so another facet of praying in the spirit is that when we pray in other tongues our spirits are praying God’s perfect will for our lives. It is in that environment that our spirits are able to communicate thoughts to our minds that we can understand, and in that manner we are able to be led by the spirit of God (Romans 2:15).
1 Corinthians 14:16-17 “Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say "Amen" at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? (17) For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.”
The Holy Spirit also teaches us in the above quoted passages of scripture that when we pray in the spirit, that we bless the Lord and that we also give Him thanks.
Michael E.B. Maher
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