Prayer Language

[brittany111]

What scriptures are used to support the belief in private prayer language? Also are there any scriptures that show the difference between private prayer language and speaking in tounges?

I ask because I know what I have been taught and have experienced, but have found little scripture to back it up. Even though I have a prayer language and have seen the gifts of tounges and interpretation used in service I beleive everything needs to be grounded in the Word and therefore would like to find supporting scripture.

 

[TriDazeHach]

What scriptures are used to support the belief in private prayer language? Also are there any scriptures that show the difference between private prayer language and speaking in tounges?

I ask because I know what I have been taught and have experienced, but have found little scripture to back it up. Even though I have a prayer language and have seen the gifts of tounges and interpretation used in service I beleive everything needs to be grounded in the Word and therefore would like to find supporting scripture.

Prayer language is where- For anyone who speaks in a tongue[a] does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.-1 Corinthians 14:2

But Speaking in tongues- But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

One is where you pray with tongues where none will understand except GOD himself, Where the other one is as the holy spirit comes upon you ,You will speak in tongues where GOD speaks through you,Given the gift to speak in tongues where interpreters could understand.

 

[brittany111]

I understand the difference I just needed scripture to back it up

Thank you

 

[Biblicist]

In Ephesians 6:18 the seventh weapon of our Spiritual Armour is speaking in tongues (praying in the Spirit) and in Jude 1:20 the author tells us to “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 Lord’s people.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I understand the difference I just needed scripture to back it up

Thank you

Paul teaching on the use of the gift of tongues is found in 1 Corinthians 14.

What I suggest you do is what R.A Torrey instructed his readers to do when they made a study of a particular part of the Bible. When you study 1 Corinthians 14, use several sheets of paper and head up each one with a question. Here are some suggested questions:

Who was the passage written to?
What was Paul's purpose in writing it?
What behaviour was he wanting to change?
Did he say that he was being inspired by the Holy Spirit, or was he giving just his own opinion?
What examples did he give from his own practice?

Go back to the beginning of 1 Corinthians, and ask the following questions:

Who was the whole book written to?
Who were the immediate readers?
Was Paul intending a wider readership? If so, who were they?
Is Paul intending for the book to apply to us today? If so, what did he say that shows this?
What did Paul say about the spiritual level of the people he was writing to?
If Paul was writing this today, what maturity level would he be directing his writing to?
Compare 1 Corinthians with Ephesians. Were these churches at the same level of maturity? Give reasons for your answer from what Paul wrote to both churches.

Back to 1 Corinthians 12, 13, 14.

Why do you think Paul put chapter 13 between 12 and 14?
Where do you think that the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 fits into how tongues and prophecy should be used in the church?
Which fruit of the Spirit was missing in the current practice of the Corinthian church in the way they operated prophecy and tongues in their services?

If you were given the job of teaching the use of the gifts of the Spirit in your church, which level would you teach at?
New Christians class?
General Bible Study group?
Children's Sunday school?
Preaching the Sunday morning/evening message?
Weekly Homegroup?

As you answer these questions, support your answer from the text of 1 Corinthians. Remember, you are using the Scripture itself to justify your answers, because you are wanting to deepen your understanding of the actual passage that you are studying. It is no help for you to try and justify your answers through your church's teachings or your favourite theology book. You are wanting to get to grips on what the Scripture itself is saying.

Read through Acts and the other Epistles (you can skim these), to see if there are any relevant references that might support your answers. Remember to ensure that you know who is being written to on each occasion. This is important because everywhere the Bible is written for us, but not always to us.

After you have done your answers, then you can check them with your commentaries to see if they are on the same page as you. You might be surprised at the differences you might see. Often, commentaries are edited according to the theology of the authors. Cessationist authors will comment on these passages in quite a different way to Pentecostal/Charismatic authors.

The whole point of doing all this is to come to a deeper understanding of what the Scripture is actually saying, who is saying it, and to whom it is directed. It is not to superimpose anyone's favourite theology into it.

I will give you an example:

Who were the ones that 1 Corinthians was directed to?
I am taking my answers from the first chapter.
Verse 2: Paul is saying that he is writing to the Corinthian church.
Also, he is writing to those who are sanctified in Christ, called to be saints (not necessarily limited to the Corinthians, but implying that this includes all other sanctified believers in the early church.
Also, he is including all who in every place call upon the name of the Lord. This means that every person who is a Christian believer, who picks up this letter and read it, it applies to him or her. Because we have access to the letter and we pick it up and read it, then it applies to us also.

What is the maturity level of the people to whom Paul is writing?
This is found in chapter 3:
He is not writing to spiritual people, but people who are behaving as carnal people. (That may be a bit of a shock to some).
He is writing to babes in Christ, and what he is "feeding" them in this letter is milk, because they are not able to take strong meat. He says that up till now, they could not bear strong meat (for mature believers), and even at the present time, they still cannot bear it.
Now bearing in mind that the whole letter is written with this in mind, it shows that 1 Corinthians is written for babes in Christ, therefore what he has set out in the letter, he would teach in a new Christians class.

So you can see, when we look at the Scripture itself, we can get a good understanding of what it is saying to those to whom it was directed in the time of Paul, and we can determine if the letter is applicable to us. It brings up the question - have we mastered all the teaching that Paul gives in 1 Corinthians. If not, then we are still babes in Christ with a long way to go to reach maturity.

It also implies that the use of the gifts of the Spirit is to be taught to absolute beginners in the faith, and not limited to those we think are "mature". And those who consider themselves mature, who are not using the gifts of the Spirit, may not be as mature in the faith as they think they are.

Isn't interesting when you do an indepth study of what the Scripture is really saying, and the particular words that Paul uses to express his teaching.

After you have done the general survey of the passage. Go through chapter 14 and do a close study of each verse in turn.
What is Paul saying?
Why is he using the particular words he is using?
What is he actually teaching in the verse?
What is his purpose in teaching this verse?
What behaviour does he expect to result from saying this verse?
How do I apply the teaching in this verse to myself?



I hope this is helpful, and I am sure that others in the forum would benefit from your research.

 

[Bob Carabbio]

However it would be a "Stretch" to proclaim that "Praying in the Spirit" in Ephesians, or Jude would necessarily be "Praying in tongues". (since Pentecostals have a "Vested interest" in finding "tongues" in places when they're not necessarily there at all - like Acts 8:17-19). There's no real reason that a person can't pray a "Spirit led" prayer in the common tongue.

It's contextually obvious, however, in 1 Corinthians since "Praying with the Understanding" is contrasted with "Praying in the Spirit", and the SUBJECT of "the proper use of tongues" is subject of discussion there.

In 1 Cor 12:
14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
16 Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?
17 For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.
18 I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:
19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

Basic message - there IS a "Praying in tongues" which is a GOOD thing - Paul does it, but in the context of a church meeting, where edification is the object, it's a REALLY GOOD idea to speak in a language the people understand (duh!!!).

 

[Biblicist]

Another important passage which I should have mentioned is with that of Rom 8:26.

Rom 8:26 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. 27 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.
​

Unlike Eph 6:18 and Jude 1:20 where the connection between praying in the Spirit and tongues is solid enough, particularly as Paul has already described praying with the S/spirit and praying with the mind in 1Co 14; this particular passage has been viewed in various ways over the years. Some have seen it as referring to how the Spirit allows us to pray “perfect” prayers or even that he intercedes on our behalf without us even being conscious of him doing so. Both of these views are certainly more than problematic which leaves us with us understanding that Paul is referring to how the Spirit prays through us in tongues.

David E Garland who wrote a 800 page book titled, 1 Corinthians, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament stated on page 585;

It is an expression of profound emotion from the deepest recesses of the soul that can be vocalised in prayer (14:2, 14, 28), singing, praise, and perhaps the “sighs too deep for words” (Rom 8:26).
​

Garland is certainly not a Pentecostal or Charismatic author and he mentioned that he comes to chapters 12, 13 & 14 at somewhat of a disadvantage as he is someone from the outside. He could possibly be referred to as being open-but-cautious and it is interesting to read material by academics who are not Full Gospel who can effectively exegete passages that relate to the Holy Spirit.

 

[Yahu]

What scriptures are used to support the belief in private prayer language? Also are there any scriptures that show the difference between private prayer language and speaking in tounges?

I ask because I know what I have been taught and have experienced, but have found little scripture to back it up. Even though I have a prayer language and have seen the gifts of tounges and interpretation used in service I beleive everything needs to be grounded in the Word and therefore would like to find supporting scripture.

It is the 'private prayer language' that Paul says is for personal edification. Both forms you listed are called the 'gift of tongues' but they have different purposes.

Tongues can have 3 different purposes.
1) your prayer closet
2) to be given in a service and interpreted as a prophet message to the assembly
3) to supernaturally give you a language that the hearer knows and understands.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Good topic.