PRAYING WITH THE SPIRIT

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 (1 Corinthians 14:14-15).

Prayer with the spirit stems from the human spirit, rather than the understanding, in other words, praying in tongues.

Paul told the Corinthians that he prayed with the spirit more than all of them (1 Corinthians 14:18).

It is not difficult to create a mental image of him sitting in his street-side workshop stitching tent material or trudging the dusty highways of the ancient world or facing a brisk ocean breeze at the bows of a Mediterranean sailing vessel.

What else is he doing? Quietly praying with the spirit, communing with God in deepening fellowship as he is spiritually built up and strengthened (1 Corinthians 14:4a).

Prayer in tongues is a way in which the pneuma (spirit) prays. He is plainly referring to the human spirit here because he uses the adjective ‘my’ in reference to ‘spirit’.

He indicates a determined approach to this. ‘I will pray with the spirit,’ he says. This is an act of decision, an expression of will.

Naturally he will use his mind’s language; he will use his spirit’s language as well.

To read more on this topic see Living in the Image of God, Barry Chant (Miranda: Tabor, 2012 available in eBook and Paperback) from which this edited extract is taken.

Posted in Living In The Image of God, Word for the Week.

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