But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit (Jude 20).
One of the great benefits of receiving the Baptism with the Holy Spirit is the ability to pray in tongues or pray in the Spirit that comes with it. Praying in tongues is God’s method of bypassing the human mind in prayer and allowing spirit to Spirit communion with God.
Some people would lead you to think that there is little value in praying in tongues. But let me ask you a question; is there any value in talking to God? 1 Corinthians 14:2(Amplified) reveals: For one who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning, because in the Holy Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things not obvious to the understanding.
Praying in tongues provides a way for the believer to talk to the Father about things he would otherwise know nothing about.
I pray with my understanding every day throughout my day in English. But I also take time throughout the day to pray in tongues. When I exhaust my limited understand of how to pray for a person or situation I tell the Lord that I’m going to pray about that in tongues so that I cover anything that my didn’t know about the situation.
Notice Romans 8:26-27: 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. Praying in the Spirit or in tongues provides a way to pray the perfect prayer!
Praying in tongues will build you up or edify you spiritually. 1 Corinthians 14:4 reads: He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.
The word to edify in the Greek means to build up. A car battery is built up by the alternator while the car engine is running so that it has energy for the next time you need to start your car! Praying in tongues provides similar spiritual edification or building up. I pray in tongues for a couple of hours before I minister the word because it produces the necessary spiritual building up I need before I preach. I get up every morning and pray in the spirit to build myself up spiritually for the day.
Some people question the validity of praying in tongues, saying that it is an emotional experience that produces no fruit. I say that a person with an experience is never at the mercy of a person with an argument! I’ve benefitted so much over the forty plus years of my walk with God that it’s a mute point for me to argue with those who don’t or won’t believe in this experience. My life has been dramatically altered for the better as a result of praying in tongues every single day!
I’ll talk about this awesome experience more tomorrow. Take time today to pray in the spirit!