Should we pray in tongues? Is the gift of tongues for prayer, and is a prayer in tongues more powerful? Does the Holy Spirit pray for people who speak in tongues, providing a deeper level of ministry to those with the gift? I answer these questions here.
A passage of Scripture commonly used to support the practise of praying in tongues is found in Paul’s letter to the Romans. Here it is:
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 through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God (Romans 8:26-27).
If tongues speakers are correct to invoke this scripture as a defence for the practise of praying in tongues, it means they are blessed above all believers, because the Holy Spirit is praying for them, while He is not praying for the rest of us who don’t pray in tongues. A careful reading of the passage reveals that they’re mistaken.
First, notice that tongues were/are/should be uttered in “words”:
“But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Corinthians 14:19).
Now look at the second part of verse 26 of our featured text, as quoted in the above NIV version:
the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
Here’s the same phrase in the KJV:
the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
It’s not possible to audibly pray without words and without utterance. Paul is saying in this passage that what the Spirit does for us is wordless: at least in terms of the use of our mouths. It’s devoid of tongues or any spoken expression on our part. He doesn’t pray through our mouths or in groans or any sounds at all, but in our hearts and our inner being, to the Father who is also in every true believer. No “tongues” are necessary.
A further implication of this is that the Spirit prays for all of us, not just for those who claim to have a gift. Paul says in verse 27 that the Spirit prays for “God’s people”. He doesn’t pray only for “some of God’s people”:
the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God
When we are moved, or in despair, or confused, and unable to pray coherently, the Spirit prays to the Father on our behalf. That’s the message Paul has for us in this passage of Scripture.
I’ve answered more claims of tongues speakers in relation to prayer in other posts. I include some links below:
Fuel for Faith, Food for Thought 