Praying with understanding and mystery of tongues

Call To Prayer

Title: Praying with understanding and mystery of tongues

By: Simon Maina Nuhu

Date: 11.08.2023

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 (1 Corinthians 14:15)

Prayer is accomplished by utterance which is not necessarily by words of mouth alone, there are two ways prayer utterances are conveyed; with understanding and with the spirit. Prayer with understanding has to do with asking, seeking, and finding (Matthew 7:7-8). It is a means where all human beings come to God to ask, seek and find whatsoever they need by faith based on how they perceive the magnitude or weight of their situation by rational understanding through their common human spoken languages. Prayer with understanding gives the opportunity to present our earthly necessities, it is by it we come to repentance, it is by it we edify each other through intercession and also addressing challenges of our brethren in difficult times. Jesus Christ gave us the template in Matthew 6:9-10. Nonetheless, praying with understanding profits less our spirit, in fact, there is high chance that we don’t pray according to the will of God, hence the need to always add ”Thy will be done” when praying with Understanding.

Speaking and praying in spirit are in two ways, there is speaking in known tongues (tongues of men) and unknown tongue (Heavenly tongue). It is needful to know that when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit gives us the ability to make utterances which are for a purpose. The Apostles on the day of Pentecost first spoke in known tongues which are human languages (Acts 2:2-12). It is a rare gift that serves the purpose of service.  This gift helped them to preach the gospel in different human languages across territories; meaning that it is for edification of people, congregation and the church. It is the same gift Apostle Paul was talking about regarding gifts of the Spirit for edification of the Church ( 1 Corinthians 12:30). Not all spirit-filled believer speak this kind of tongue.

Unknown tongue actually means praying in the Spirit. This is a first most evident sign of the refilling of the Holy Spirit in a born again child of God. According to the Scripture (1 Corinthians 14:2), speaking in unknown tongues is for self edification because it is our spirit that prays; meaning that one is only praying to God and only God Himself understands the person as it is a mystery. The purpose of this is to build and edify oneself in the spirit. Praying in unknown tongues projects us to the will of God; the Holy Spirit brings us to the place of Christ in Heavenly places. It is in this activity, we experience several encounters, revelation according to God’s mind. Praying in the spirit is not necessarily about demands or request making, fueled by lust, but a place of maturity, where we have a conversation and discussion with God. In addition, we access a lot of spiritual resources available and given to us by God in Christ.

Prayer points:

Let’s thank God and ask Him to help us pray without ceasing.