July 3 - Ephesians 6:18

1. Praying in tongues:  1 Corinthians 14:14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive. 
The Apostle Paul was referring to praying in tongues when he spoke of praying in the Spirit. When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church about praying in tongues, he said it is his spirit which prays. In this context, the Apostle Paul contrasts praying in tongues, or in the spirit, with praying with the mind. This holds to the belief that praying in the spirit is something that is foreign to praying with the understanding. It is a prayer to God that the mind cannot understand because it goes straight from the human spirit to God. When a person prays in the Spirit they pray directly to God without understanding what they are saying. This is what Paul encourages believers to do.

2. Praying with the help of the Holy Spirit. The word translated “in” can mean “in,” “with,” or “by means of.” This same verse in 1 Cor 14:14 refers to our need of the Holy Spirit to help us with our prayers. Praying in the spirit has the idea of praying with the help of the Holy Spirit as opposed to praying without His help. The emphasis is that our prayers should be directed by the Spirit of God and not our own selfish motives. This is why we need the Holy Spirit to help us.

But then, let's go on to the next verse:

3. Praying earnestly in other tongues AND in a known tongue. I Cor 14:14-15 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. 

The apostle confirms that both are needed - known and unknown tongues. 

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

Often, we do not know how to pray or what we should pray for. The Apostle Paul is telling us to pray on all occasions, at all times as we plead our case to the Lord in the Spirit. I never want to limit God in my prayers, so I will take all the help I can get when I pray. As such, I have learned over the past 40 years that praying in tongues is the best and deepest way to reach God because I often do not know how to pray with my finite mind. Although God loves and honors our prayers as we earnestly pray with our minds, I know I am so much more effective in my prayers when I pray in an unknown tongue. So I do both, as the Holy Spirit directs me.

As we close out our devotions on praying the complete armor of God over ourselves, the Apostle Paul ends by saying that we must be watchful with all perseverence and supplication (pleading) as we pray for ALL the saints. 

If you do not pray in other tongues, as the Holy Spirit directs, and you want that gift, you certainly can. The Lord does not hold that gift from you. Just go to your prayer closet and ask Him to give you a prayer language that is known only between you and God. The last words Jesus spoke out to His disciples before He ascended back into heaven was to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit to fall upon them.

Act 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Ask and you shall receive!

Blessings,