[Power of the Word] Praying in the Spirit--Part 1
Daniel Brady
“…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—“ --Ephesians 6:18
According to Ephesians 6:18, we are to be praying always, and praying for and about everything. Now, the third instruction Paul gives us is that we are to pray in the Spirit. Oh my, but how the Charismatics love to hear that one! “See…right there…we’re supposed to pray in tongues. Paul tells us to pray in the Spirit—to pray in tongues. God wants us to pray in tongues. He even commands us to pray in tongues.”
Whoa Nelly! Let’s not get too hasty. In this passage, Paul makes no mention of tongues. It is not the topic he is addressing. If you want to know what Paul says about speaking or praying in tongues, you have to go to I Corinthians. Leave Ephesians 6 out of the discussion.
I say this to make the point that praying in the Spirit is not necessarily equivalent to praying in tongues. Now, I will agree that, according to the Bible, tongues is one of the gifts of the Spirit, which means that whenever someone is genuinely speaking or praying in tongues, it is caused by the Holy Spirit. There are times when, as you are in prayer, the Holy Spirit can cause you to spontaneously start praying in tongues. I know this to be true because it has happened to me. However, we would be making a terrible and tragic mistake if we allow such experiences to lead us to the conclusion that praying in the Spirit is equivalent to praying in tongues, and to therefore say that if you are not praying in tongues, then you are not praying in the Spirit
What does it mean, then, to pray in the Spirit? If praying in the Spirit sometimes leads to praying in tongues, but not always, what is the distinction to be made between the two?
Well, let me start by reminding you that since tongues is a spiritual gift, it is not intended for use by all Christians. In both Romans 12:6-8 and I Corinthians 12:1-11, Paul makes it clear that the Holy Spirit distributes different spiritual gifts to each member of the Body of Christ. Not all Christians receive the same gifts. Paul explains the reason for this in such a way as to make it obvious. If all members had the same gift(s), then they would not need each other. However, God has designed and built His Church in such a manner that each member does need all the others. He sees to it and proves it by giving different gifts to the different members of the Body.
Now, if Ephesians 6:18 contained a command to pray in tongues, then Paul would be contradicting what he’s said in Romans 12 and I Corinthians 12. For he is telling ALL Christians to pray in the Spirit. If all Christians were to pray in tongues, then why make the point in these other passages that not all believers have the same gifts? And if not all believers have the same gifts, why would Paul then turn around and command all Christians to pray in tongues? He would be commanding many believers to exercise a spiritual gift they do not possess.
In thinking about what it does mean to pray in the Spirit, I consider the fact that we are to pray in Jesus’ Name. Now, here is where we can perhaps find some similarities. Jesus is the Second Person in the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is the Third Person in the Trinity. As co-equal members of the Godhead, both are eternal, both are holy, both are worthy of our worship, and we can see some similarities (as well as some distinctions) in how we are to relate to each other. We will look at some of these similarities, as they relate to prayer, next time.
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