| Getting results from groaning in prayer
It is not uncommon to hear varying types of deep sighs of agony and displeasure of heart in prayer rooms especially when we suddenly run short of words. And most times, we assume that God understands what we are unable to say in words, which is very true. But this does not imply that Paul was referring to such sighs when he wrote to the Roman church. Whenever someone make low inarticulate sound as e.g. of pain or sorrow; or indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure, they are still utterances and expressions. But Romans 8: 26 speaks of groaning which can not be uttered or too deep for words. Could it be that it is referring to something else? Yes it is. Contextually, it suggest that the second phrase in verse 26 of Romans 8, speaks of praying in a way or form that human words can express and understand; and we have rightly discussed in previ0us editions of this topic, that the best of our articulation in prayer is still not the best way we ought to pray. Therefore, the third phrase reveals what the groaning of the Holy Spirit means; that is to express oneself in a language which can not be understood by the human mind. In essence, human grammatical constructions, word phrases and articulation does not play any part in this. This must be praying in another language which is different from that of men. It surely must be a language that is heavenly not earthly. When a Christian prays in other language or other tongue as it is popularly referred to, it is not an expressible exercise in human understanding. I do not mean praying in another tribe language, but in the heavenly language. I Corinthians 14, “for if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful”. It is my spirit born after the spirit of God, and given life by the Spirit of God that prays. In as much as this is not like the initial dead spirit, then it means it has been given what it needs to fellowship with God Himself. The understanding that is unfruitful describe the inability of the human mind or sense of reasoning to be able to grasp the idea of what is being said when praying in other tongues. As a matter of fact, when praying in other tongues, you most likely will pray about some issues that ordinarily you would not have mentioned if you were to pray in your known language. This is purely as the Spirit wills, and we will find out in the next edition about the “spiritual background” operations that makes this possible. – adeyiga awomuti |
