Prayer and Prophecy

The use of tongues and other spiritual gifts in intercessory prayer is sometimes debated as to what Ephesians 6:18 means by "pray in the Spirit".

A. Skevington Wood in The expositor's Bible Commentary volume 11 (23) says, "The phrase 'in the Spirit' (en pneumatic) is usually taken to mean communion with the Spirit or "in the power of the Spirit". Barclay (NEB) has: "Let the Spirit be the atmosphere in which you pray".

"Prayers" (proseuche, sing.) represents the approach to God in general and "requests" (deesis, sing.) a special form of it, namely supplication. Every avenue of such praying is to be thoroughly explored."

Eph 6:18 "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

NKJV 1 Corinthians 14:2 "For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to man but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries."

1 Corinthians 14:2 "For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit."

Marshall's literal translation 1 Corinthians 14:2 "For the [one] speaking in a tongue not to men speaks but to God; for no one hears, but in spirit he speaks mysteries"

The more literal translations appear to suggest that praying in tongues and praying in the spirit are one and the same. However, this should not exclude praying in a known language. Every avenue of prayer should be thoroughly explored.

Now, if we pray in a known language it is possible to pray in agreement, which is a powerful weapon. If we are to pray in a known language in the Spirit then we must pray in accord with the Spirit of God; who is God. God chooses to speak to us through the revelatory gifts of the Spirit, such as prophecy. What better way to pray in agreement with the Holy Spirit than to hear how God wants us to pray.

Romans 8:26 - 27 "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 with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."

Let us not neglect the supernatural gifts of the Spirit and pray in our own understanding.

Trevor Dearing in his book "a People of Power" (24) written in 1985 says,

"Spiritual gifts then, are given to believers according to the sovereign will and disposition of the Holy Spirit. It is not wrong, however, to seek them (1 Corinthians 12:31, 41:1), as long as the purpose is for the well being of the whole church. In the realm of spiritual gifts, states Paul, the body of Christ, like the human body, maintains a condition of interdependence (1 Corinthians 12).

Many of these gifts obviously have been used throughout the whole history of the Church for the nurturing of the Christian Community. Obviously no church could ever survive without adequate pastoral care and teaching, together with such everyday ministries as administration, helps and services. However, all too often those who exercise these ministries are tempted to rely more upon their natural endowments rather than the power of the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, the gifts which could not function at all without supernatural empowering, such as tongues (with interpretation), miracles, prophecy and healing, have been sadly neglected throughout church history. Men of such calibre as St. Augustine, Luther and John Wesley have all stated that this has never been because God has impoverished his church by withdrawing the gifts, but rather that the Church has not had enough faith to use them!"

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