Praying in Tongues

Call To Prayer  

Title: Praying in Tongues 

By: Njuacha Hubert 

Date: 3/07/2022 

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Romans 8:26 NIV  

Many at times we get to a point where we know what is right to do but we still don’t find the strength to do it. On the night of his crucifixion, Jesus was overwhelmed with sorrow and took three of his apostles from among the disciples to accompany him as he went to pray. He asked them to keep watch and he went a little further to pray. Then Jesus prayed “… My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Mathew 26:36). Then he came back to them and found them sleeping and asked Peter “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?”. And said “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”. It takes perhaps a maximum of 1 minute to say the sentences “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Yet we can infer from Jesus’s statement that he had being praying for 1 hour. Do you think Jesus had to repeat his prayer intention over and over again when he had discouraged repetitive and unnecessarily long prayers (Mathew 6:7). It is very suggestive that Jesus spent the rest of that prayer time praying in tongues. 

I can define praying in tongues as praying without using words you are familiar with, just saying gibberish with the faith that the holy spirit in you is praying for you (1 Corinthians 14:14). After all, it is written that unless you convert and become like little children you shall not enter the kingdom of God(Mathew 18:3). But as saint Paul recommended, when you are praying in tongues don’t let your mind be idle, which can then wonder off to ungodly thoughts, but also pray with your mind even as your spirit prays 1 Corinthians 14:15. 

There are many benefits to praying even so with praying in tongues. The first I would mention is seen in our opening verse which is that we don’t always know what we ought to pray for with our human minds. Especially when it has not been renewed. But by letting the spirit pray for us we can pray for even what we are not yet conscious of. We can avert future temptations or be prepared to overcome them just as Jesus said in Mathew 26:41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” People have shared testimonies of praying for people they didn’t know about while praying in tongues. That’s love.  

Saint Paul also tells us in Corinthians 14:4 that praying in tongues edifies our spirit. Just as Jude 20 also says the same in other words “building up your faith by praying in the holy spirit”. If you are praying with only your mind then you are not praying in the holy spirit. Just as the human body needs food so does our spirit man or faith also need fuelling and one of the requirements is by praying in tongues. There are also testimonies from Pastor’s who have preached all their life without getting weary or bored and they attribute their strength and charisma to praying in tongues.  

So, in conclusion when we pray in tongues we pray directly to God through our spirit. We can pray for the gift of interpretation but first just pray in tongues. There is no syllables to praying in tongues. It about being vulnerable like a baby before God and just letting Him pray for you. 

Prayer Point:  

Let’s thank God for this word today. Let’s pray that all in the body will come to the realization of the importance of this spiritual exercise that can give us the necessary spiritual stamina and impulse to live out our God given assignments with ease and joy.