Praying with the 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.”
One of the most enlightening aspects that help us to more clearly understand the spirit of the born-again believer is the gift of speaking in other tongues. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see the gift of other tongues being given to the New Testament saints for the first time on the day of Pentecost. The reason this gift was never given to the saints under the Old Covenant was because they could not be born-again and could therefore not be filled with the Holy Spirit. For although the Holy Spirit could come upon certain individuals under the Old Covenant to anoint them to stand in certain offices, i.e. prophet, high priest and king, He could not dwell within the spirits of the Old Testament saints because they were still spiritually dead. And so because New Testament saints are born-again, they can be filled with the Holy Spirit and thus receive the gift of other tongues that the Holy Spirit imparts to them. Although the gift of tongues is only given to saints that are filled with the Spirit it is nevertheless available to all saints under the New Covenant, because the baptism of the Holy Spirit is available to all saints. For various reasons however, some New Testament saints have not yet partaken of the baptism. Nevertheless as we will see in this section the gift of tongues gives us substantial insight into various aspects of the born-again spirit.
1 Corinthians 14:14-15 “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. (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 above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul, in discussing the gift of tongues, gives us a number of insights into the nature of the born-again spirit. Firstly we see that when the saint speaks to tongues that it is in fact the spirit of the believer that is speaking, for Paul states that when we pray in tongues that our spirits are praying. And so we see that just as our minds use our body’s vocal chords to communicate with God and others in a known language, so our spirits also use our body’s vocal chords to communicate to God in an unknown language. When I use the term unknown language I am referring to a language that is unknown to the mind of the saint, for in this passage Paul teaches us that when we speak in tongues that our minds do not understand the words that are spoken, because to our minds the tongue spoken is a foreign language. The spirit of the believer however understands the language perfectly, for it is the spirit that is communicating with God. As an aside, God obviously also understands the language that the spirit is speaking, for He is the one who gave the spirit its language in the first place. And so if God were to supernaturally give us understanding of the language spoken, when we speak in tongues we would hear our spirits communicating various petitions and supplications to the Lord. This particular truth helps us to understand the concept of our spirits having their own understanding, because our spirits are able to communicate with God just as our minds are able to, just at another level. There is one other truth that I want you to notice from this passage, which is that Paul lists praying with the spirit before praying with the understanding, and the reason for that is because Paul recognised the greater effectiveness of his spirit’s prayer in comparison to the prayers of his understanding.
1 Corinthians 14:2-4 “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. (3) But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. (4) He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul confirms once again that when we speak in tongues that our spirits speak directly to God and not to men, for he tells us that no man is able to understand the language spoken by the spirit. Paul also confirms in this passage the truth that our spirits understand the language spoken perfectly, for he tells us that the saint who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves. So what does Paul mean by that statement? In explaining the statement Paul tells us that prophecy, which is divinely inspired utterance in a known language, edifies the church. The reason that prophecy edifies the church is because those who hear the prophecy understand the language spoken. And so in the same manner the reason that tongues edifies the spirit of the saint is because the spirit understands the language spoken. So why did God decide to give the born-again spirit its own language? The apostle Paul answers that question for us in the above quoted passage of scripture, for in this passage Paul teaches us that when our spirits pray that they speak mysteries. So what does that statement mean? The word translated “mysteries” also carries the meaning of secret doctrine. In other words our spirits have far more insight into God’s word than our minds do, and they even have insight into doctrines that have not yet been revealed in God’s written word. And so because our spirits have been given such vast insight they are able to pray far more effectively than even the most spiritually minded saint could ever pray with their understanding. This particular truth gives us some insight into the degree of understanding that our spirits actually have, i.e. they have far more understanding than our minds could ever have in this life. There is another observation that we can make about praying in tongues, which is that the saint can be filled with the Spirit and speak in other tongues the moment after they are born-again. And so we see that the spirit of the saint can already begin to speak mysteries in the spirit long before their minds have even started to be renewed. This truth again just reaffirms the fact that our spirits have their own understanding, and that their understanding is not at all reliant on the understanding of the mind of the saint.
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 truth that his spirit had far more insight and understanding than his mind could ever have, which is why he made the statement in the above quoted passage of scripture that he thanked God that he spoke with tongues more than anyone else. In this passage Paul gives us an indication of just how much he spoke in tongues, for he states that in the church he would rather speak five words with his understanding than ten thousand words in a tongue. The reason Paul makes that statement is because he was emphasising the fact that in order to bless others, we can only speak to them in a known language that they can understand. However, in this passage Paul implies that when he was not speaking in the church, i.e. when he prayed and thus spoke to God that he would then practice the reverse, in that he would rather speak ten thousand words in a tongue than five words with his understanding. The reason for that is obvious, because Paul recognised that the prayers of his spirit were far more effective than the prayers of his understanding could ever be.
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.”
As an aside, although as we have established that in this life our spirits have far greater insight and understanding than our minds could ever have, our spirits still don’t’ know everything. And so there are areas that even our spirits do not know how to pray for effectively, and in those areas, as the above quoted passage of scripture states, God the Holy Spirit steps in and intercedes on our behalf with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Michael E.B. Maher
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