Most of us have general head knowledge of the importance of prayer, but religion has taught us only the basic rudiments of it. Praying connects us to God and allows us to commune with Him, however, relying solely on our own language while we pray limits us severely. We can all remember times when we felt something so powerfully that we didn’t know how to express it. At times like these, the ability to pray in the Holy Spirit frees us from those limitations.
When we feel the need to pray but we don’t have the right words, praying in the Spirit bypasses that entire issue. “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. 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” (Romans 8:26, 27, NKJV). Not many people understand this powerful gift from the Holy Spirit, and some may even be afraid of it. As believers, it’s in our best interest to embrace it, because this type of heartfelt prayer empowers us.
“Heartfelt” is defined as sincere, genuine, earnest, and coming from the heart. In our prayer lives, sometimes depending too much on our minds can hold us back from expressing what’s in our hearts. “For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries… For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful” (1 Corinthians 14:2, 14). Our heavenly Father knows exactly what’s going on in our lives, but He wants to hear it directly from us, His children. Praying in tongues allows us to talk with Him by praying the perfect prayer.
Praying in tongues requires total trust in the Holy Spirit. Even when we don’t understand what we’re saying, He does. This grace gift was sent during the first Pentecost, just as Jesus had promised. “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). When our emotions run too deep for words and our spirits need more than what our intellectual prayers can provide, the Spirit frees us from our earthly language and gives us the ability to speak in our heavenly language.
The world doesn’t understand this type of prayer, but there’s nothing creepy or scary about it. Most churches don’t teach it because not even the preachers understand praying in the Spirit. When the Spirit descended on the people, some onlookers questioned the validity of the manifestation. “And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine” (Acts 2:12, 13). There will always be doubters, but this type of prayer is led one hundred percent by the Spirit of God.
When we pray, complementing our own language with the language God gives us strengthens us. “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost” (Jude 1:20). Praying in tongues keeps us grounded in God while allowing us to reach upward for guidance from His Spirit. This type of prayer positions us to hear from Him just when we need to the most.