“I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.”

— 1 Corinthians 14:15

#9 in The Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Under the Old Covenant, the priests would perform sacrifices and intercede on behalf of Israel for forgiveness. They had to do this continually because the people kept breaking the Law, and they themselves were not perfect. But Jesus secured a New Covenant in his blood. He offered himself as a sin offering once and for all time, with no need to continue offering sacrifices on behalf of our forgiveness. In Him, we are forgiven once and for all time.

He is now our high priest under this New and Better Covenant. His intercession on our behalf now focuses on strengthening us to receive the benefits and riches of God's kingdom, so we are equipped and blessed to spread the Gospel.

Hebrews 7:24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him since He always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the Law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

As our eternal high priest, he is continually praying (interceding) for us. He is not interceding for forgiveness continually like Old Covenant priests, he is praying to help us when we're weak. He prays for us when we don’t know what to pray.

Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. 27 And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Take a moment and be thankful for the fact that Jesus is praying for you, at this moment, as you read this. What do you think he is praying? We know he's praying for the areas you are weak. We know he's helping you pray because you don't always know what to pray. He is not continually asking God to forgive since he's the one-time sufficient sacrifice for your sin, what else is he praying?

Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.

He continually affirms your identity, spirit to spirit. When Jesus prays for you from Heaven, he reminds you that you are God's child. Not just a child, but an heir. And not just an heir, but a co-heir with Jesus. Not only do you have an inheritance from God as a child of God, but you receive the same thing as Jesus.

Jesus is always praying for you that you would receive everything he died to give you. A complete and total salvation. God wants you to have what Jesus died for you to receive. If you receive the same thing Jesus received, you should know what Jesus received and how to pray so that it is established in your life. Salvation is yours now. The Greek word for salvation is soteria, which means; deliverance from Messianic judgment, restoration, wholeness, healing, prosperity. (Click here for a study link on soteria. Click here for a study link on sozo.)

It's already yours. It's will is already probated through the death of Christ. And it's been made alive in you through the resurrection of Christ. So when you have trouble believing and receiving your inheritance, you can allow Jesus to pray for you that it be established in your life.

We see from Romans 8:26 that the spirit prays from a place of unity with our spirits, from inside us, from our hearts. He helps and prays with us in the form of groaning too deep for words. Does this ever happen to you? You become so aware of God's presence that words lose their meaning, but yet you still have to pray?

Paul calls this praying with your spirit or praying in an unknown tongue. Your mind is unfruitful, but your spirit is effective in this kind of prayer (1 Corinthians 14:14-16). You can pray with your spirit, and when you do, you are yielding the power in your tongue to allow Jesus to pray for you through you. When you pray with your spirit in an unknown tongue, you are allowing God to pray a perfect prayer through you that is according to His will for you. I don't know about you, but I want to co-labor with God and let Him pray perfect powerful prayers through me as much as I can.

But wait, there’s more…

Your Brain Gets Rewired

There is another fascinating aspect to praying in tongues that we only now know through electrical brain-imaging. Dr. Andrew Newberg of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has conducted research on the brains of Christians while praying in tongues. His brain imaging tests report that the part of the brain that controls speech is not active while praying in tongues. This means the subject does not know what they are saying; their "understanding is unfruitful."

Another conclusion is this; "These findings could be interpreted as the subject's sense of self-being taken over by something else... We believe this is the first scientific imaging study evaluating changes in cerebral activity -- looking at what actually happens to the brain -- when someone is speaking in tongues. This study also showed a number of other changes in the brain, including those areas involved in emotions and establishing our sense of self." Dr. Newberg - University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

By the way, this was only true of Christians praying in tongues. Dr. Newberg conducted the same studies on Buddhist and Franciscan Monks, and both of those groups' brain images did not change to reflect the same results while praying. They chanted and prayed in a language known to them according to their brain activity.

When you pray in tongues, your brain enters a state where your sense of self, who you think you are, is open to suggestion. In this time of prayer, the Spirit of God himself will bear witness with your spirit that you are His child and a joint heir with Jesus. As you prime your physiology with the gift of tongues, you can become rewired to transform into the image of Christ. It already happened on a spiritual level at your new birth; it occurs in the rest of your being as you pray with your spirit in an unknown language.

I believe this is true because life and death are in the power of the tongue. You are yielding your authority to God and are allowing Him to establish His will in you, which is to be conformed to the image of Christ.

If you pray in tongues, do it more. Do it from the heart, not from the mind. If you do not utilize the gift of praying with your spirit in an unknown tongue, ask God to help you and begin to do it. You do not need another dose of the Holy Spirit, you have all of Him if you are born again. Use this gift, use it daily. Don't frustrate the gift with your mind, and don't try to control the narrative of the prayer with your mind. Do it from the heart with your spirit. And rejoice in the fact that God is strengthening you, edifying you, and transforming you as you exercise this gift.

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