"Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication" (Eph.6:18). "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24)
Today we are continuing with our discussion on 'How should we pray'. The Bible verses above are encouraging us to 'pray in the spirit'. The question: 'What is praying in the spirit?'
When we repent and ask for forgiveness of our sin and accept Christ as our Saviour, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit who comes and dwell within us. Praying in spirit is a one-to-one conversation between us and God whereby we allow the spirit that dwells within us to pray for us. The sound that we utter when we do this is not triggered by our rational thought process; it originates from the spirit within us. The resulting sound / words that we make are not comprehendible by ourselves or others.
Praying in the spirit, or praying in tongues as it is also called, is a form of prayer that we do by faith. This form of prayer may sound like gibberish (i.e. unintelligible or meaningless speech) to us and everyone else. However, we do it knowing that our utterances initiated by the spirit within us are understood by God who is spirit. This is how the Apostle Paul describes it: "For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit" (1Cor.14:2).
At this stage we may be wondering why do we do it if we cannot understand what we are saying?
- The answer is that we pray in the spirit because the spirit helps us in our weakness, when we do not know how and what to pray for. "For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Rom.8:26-27).
- Praying in tongues allow our spirit man to grow and our faith to deepen. "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost" (Jude 1:20). Also, "The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself " (1Cor.14:4).
This form of prayer is best conducted in private. Wisdom from scripture is to go into your room, shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you (Matt. 6:7). Finally, Apostle Paul's guidance on praying in the spirit, "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding" (ICor.14:14-15).
My Prayer
Father AhaYah, thank you that Your spirit prays for us when we do not know how to pray. Father, please deepen our faith to embrace this gift of praying to You in the spirit knowing that when we do, we pray according to Your will for us. Father, for those who have not yet received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, please convict them of their sins and lead them into repentance. Thank you Father, that you continue to call us to draw nearer to You. We pray in Jesus' name. Aman.