I pray in tongues but this time I’ll pray in understanding

I came up with this title a few days ago when I was praying in tongues. Actually, I woke up in the morning and I wanted to pray in tongues but I was feeling it was not fit for me to pray in tongues.

I decided to pray in understanding and I had reasons for doing so. It is those reasons that I will be sharing in this article.

When I’m sure of what I want

Naturally, praying in tongues works best when I don’t know what I want and I don’t know what to pray for. Sometimes I know what to pray for but I don’t have the time to formulate my prayer in understanding.

During such times, I kneel down and let the Holy Spirit take over. But when I know what I want to pray for and I have the time to pray for it, I formulate my prayer in understanding.

The beauty of praying in understanding is that it is easy to cultivate your faith. If you are praying for something and you mention it in understanding, you will know that you prayed for it and through that you will find peace.

Peace after prayer comes when you know that you have made your request known to God. The Bible affirms this truth in the book of Philippians 4.

When you know that God has heard your prayer and has no excuse to say He never heard you pray, you will be at peace.

In the book of James we are told that we do not receive because we do not ask. When you pray in understanding and you mention a matter, you are sure that you have asked and therefore are eligible to receive.

When I want to quote Scriptures

Someone may wonder why I would want to quote scriptures when I can just pray in tongues. But the simple reason for quoting scriptures when praying is that our faith is built on scriptures.

I came to know God through scriptures. I learned about Jesus through the Bible. I read the Bible and it was talking about a man called Jesus who lived in a town called Nazareth, born to a virgin called Mary and this man was performing miracles and casting out demons.

The man said “I’m the way the truth and the life” and then He died on the cross. Three days later He resurrected and ascended to heaven. He started a movement that was taken up by his disciples.

Then there was a man named Saul who was on his way to Damascus when Jesus appeared to him and commanded him to preach the gospel to the gentiles. The story continues from there.

Scriptures are a foundation for me and anytime I want to make a prayer especially foundational prayers covering faith and sin, I pray in understanding.

The beauty of quoting scriptures while praying is that I can reference whatever I want. If I am feeling God has forgotten me, I’ll look for scriptures in Psalms where King David was feeling the Lord had forgotten him.

I’ll quote scriptures such as Psalms 22:1 that says: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?

I quote this kind of scriptures not only because King David quoted them when he was feeling the way I am feeling but also because quoting them makes me feel at peace.

Quoting scriptures has power. Speaking out scriptures loudly carries great spiritual power.

For this reason, I love quoting scriptures. Sometimes when I’m praying in tongues, I pause praying to quote a few scriptures before I continue.

Sometimes the Holy Spirit compels me to quote scriptures when I’m praying.

When I’m Discouraged

I’ve learned over the years that speaking in tongues requires a high level of faith and motivation. Naturally, when you are discouraged, you don’t want to do things; you feel tired and bored.

The only thing that pulls me out of that state is prayer. But at that time, speaking in tongues feels like speaking empty words into the air.

For that reason, I choose to pray in understanding. When I pray in understanding, it is easy to understand what I am saying to God and find strength in it.

In my early days of praying in tongues, I faced a lot of discouragement. I would pray in tongues but it felt as if the tongues had no impact.

As a result, I would start by praying in understanding until when I had momentum then I would switch to praying in tongues. This is actually what I recommend for people who are new to speaking in tongues.

Dealing with discouragement when you are new to speaking in tongues is not easy.

If you are feeling discouraged to pray in tongues, start by praying in understanding until when you have sufficient momentum then switch to praying in tongues.

I know some people who naturally start by praying in understanding before they switch to praying in tongues. If that works best for you, do it!

Conclusion

Those are the three main reasons that make me choose to pray in understanding even though I have the gift of praying in tongues.

As it is with matters in life, balance is necessary. Just because you have the gift of praying in tongues doesn’t mean that you must pray in tongues at all times.

There are times when it is wise to pray in understanding. The Holy Spirit Himself will often prompt you to pray in understanding when it is necessary.

Usually, when you are making declarations, the Holy Spirit will prompt you to make the declarations in understanding.

You don’t want a situation where you have made declarations that you don’t understand. How will you enforce them if you are a king but you don’t know the declarations you have made?

The Bible tells us in 1^st Peter 2:8 that we are a royal priesthood. That means that we make declarations as priestly kings which necessitates knowing the declarations we are making.

Praying in understanding also makes it possible to testify when God answers you. If you prayed for a matter in understanding, you will know when God has answered you and testify of it.

Therefore, just as Apostle Paul says in 1^st Corinthians 14 that he prays in tongues and also prays in understanding, it is wise for us to do the same.

Until next time…Peace!