What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also (1 Corinthians 14:15).
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever (John 14:16).
The Holy Spirit is an extraordinary gift to us, God’s children (Acts 2:38). He, in the parlance of computer science, is like the “downloader”. It takes the Holy Spirit to “download” heavenly files and bring heavenly materiality into the human system.
He alone, for example, can help you accept the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, His sacrificial death, triumphant resurrection, and His glorious ascension into heaven. Only the Holy Spirit can convince you that the blood of Jesus Christ was adequate for the salvation of humanity. So when you find that you can understand and accept these spiritual realities, it means the Holy Spirit has unveiled them to you; He’s working in your life.
When Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do men say I am?” only Peter spoke rightly, and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). The Master’s response to Peter was, “…Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). Peter wasn’t guessing; he certainly didn’t know this in his head; the knowledge of who Jesus is was imparted to him by the Holy Spirit. There are no human parameters that can help you comprehend spiritual realities.
Even in preaching and ministering salvation to others, you must understand that the Gospel that we’ve been given and charged to take to the nations of the world is a Gospel that can’t be humanly explained and accepted. Consequently, we need the Holy Spirit to minister through us and to help bring the understanding of the message to those to whom we minister. His help is inevitable in everything we do.
Never find yourself doing anything or building anything by your own natural strength or human wisdom; It will fail. Psalm 127:1 says, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it….”
Perhaps you’re a minister of the Gospel, don’t try to build the Church by your own strength; don’t rely on your natural abilities, for that alone won’t work. Depend on the Holy Spirit. Take advantage of His glorious ministry in your life. He’s in you to help you live the triumphant Christian life and be successful in all that you do, to the glory of the Father. He’s your indispensable Helper!
God is a Spirit, and to relate with Him, you’ve got to do so from your spirit.
The Bible says that those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).
You know, sometimes, we tell people, “relate to God from your spirit,” and they don’t know what to do. They wonder, “Do I raise my hands?” “Do I leap?” “Do I just stay still?” Paul said, “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful” (1 Corinthians 14:14). So when you pray in tongues, it’s your spirit that’s praying; you’re communing or relating with the Lord, as it were, from your spirit.
Praying from your spirit or with your spirit lights up and opens up your spirit to hear and receive from God. Notice what we read in our opening scripture: “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also.” He didn’t say “I will pray with the understanding, and I will pray with the spirit also.”
Praying with the spirit takes the preeminence. One reason a lot of God’s people aren’t growing spiritually as they should is that they pray more with their understanding – from their natural minds – than they pray with the spirit. You can’t grow effectively as a Christian that way.
The Bible says, “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost” (Jude 1:20). Praying with the spirit, or praying by the power of the Holy Spirit, is more important than all the most intelligent words you could ever utter to God in your understanding. That’s why it’s so important that you learn to pray lavishly and fervently with the spirit, in other tongues.
This is the kind of praying that improves you; it causes you to be built up from within like an edifice and gets you charged with divine firepower. Paul said, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all” (1 Corinthians 14:18). That lets you know the premium he placed on praying with the spirit. Little wonder, therefore, that he recorded such phenomenal successes and victories both in his personal life and ministry to others.
Sometimes, there are those who wonder what the Spirit meant when He said through the Apostle Paul, “Praying always WITH ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION in the Spirit.” But it’s very clear.
Another translation says, “…With every kind of prayer.” He’s saying to you, “I want you to pray with the spirit in every kind of prayer.” In other words, there’re different kinds of prayer. Now, whether it’s a prayer of faith, a prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer of intercession, a prayer of agreement, the prayer of dedication or consecration or prophetic prayer, you’re to add to it, praying in the spirit.
Praying in the spirit is one kind of prayer, but he’s telling us that with all the different kinds of prayer, we should pray in the spirit. Don’t say, “I’m not praying in the spirit today, because I’m praying a prayer of intercession.” We can’t leave out the spirit when it comes to prayers; we must pray in other tongues. That’s what praying in the spirit is; it means that the prayer is coming from the inspiration of your spirit, uttered in other tongues.
For instance, when you want to pray the prayer of faith, you may start by speaking in tongues before going ahead to release those declarations of faith. It’s like saying to you, “With every food, take water, meaning whether you’re eating a protein meal or vegetables, irrespective of the type of food, drink water along with it.
The Apostle Paul, while communicating this truth to the Corinthian Church, said, “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also” (1 Corinthians 14:14-15).
Take this seriously. Pray always in the spirit, and your life will be so upgraded to enjoy ever-increasing glory. You’ll be vibrant and exuberant with praise at all times; more effective in your Christian walk, and circumstances will be under your feet. Hallelujah!
When we speak in tongues, we do so by faith. We open our mouths, and the Holy Spirit gives us utterance. Here, your spirit is praying in tongues. The Bible says, “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful” (1 Corinthians 14:14). So, it’s your spirit that prays in tongues, even though the utterance is granted to your spirit by the Holy Spirit. But there’s another one that’s a higher level of prayer.
That’s what is written for us in Romans 8:26, which we read as our opening scripture. The underlined phrase “… the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities…” tells us how the Spirit helps and takes hold together with us in our weakness. He props you up and helps you pray in line with the perfect will of God, especially when you face dire situations and are at your wits’ end. He takes over and helps you pray correctly.
The AMPC puts it beautifully. It says, “So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.” At this higher level of prayer, the Holy Spirit Himself has taken over, making intercessions with groanings and deep sighs according to the will of God.
You may find yourself crying uncontrollably, but not out of pain; keep at it and don’t be troubled. It’s the Holy Spirit praying through you. This is the most effective kind of prayer, and it’s the Spirit’s joy to make it happen for you.
So, each time you pray, yield yourself to the Holy Spirit to pray through you, and you’ll be amazed at the impact and the tremendous results in your life and circumstances.
-GSW-