"in the Spirit"
 

What does it mean to be "in the Spirit"?

What does it mean to be "praying in the Spirit"?

Is "praying in the Spirit" the exact same thing as praying in tongues?



"I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day" Revelation 1:10

"praying in the Holy Spirit" Jude 1:20

"Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. Otherwise if you bless in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?" 1Corinthians 14: 13-16

Re: "in the Spirit"
 

I believe praying in the Spirit is indeed praying in tongues.

Walking in the Spirit and after the Spirit means living a life before God without reliance on law-keeping methodology, but instead relying upon God's empowering grace to do good and avoid evil.

In the Spirit, generally speaking, I believe means a person is in deep communion with God and genuinely fellowshiping with Him in prayer.

Re: "in the Spirit"
 

I'll share my thoughts. Essentially the same as Bro. Blume's. I just word it a little different.

Praying in the Spirit is praying as the Spirit leads you to pray, be it in tongues or your native language.

To be "in the Spirit" means to be in present and conscious awareness of the abiding presence of the Spirit within you. Having the Spirit we realize that Christ is in the Father, the Father in Christ, and Christ in us... through the Spirit. This abiding in us is more than merely the Spirit dwelling within us, it is the Spirit's presence and permeation of our spiritual being, our inner man. Through this abiding reality we become one spirit with the Lord (I Corinthians 6:17) and branches of the vine, Jesus Christ (John 15:5). These realities being so, we realize that we are living extensions of Christ Himself. Being in present conscious awareness of this spiritual reality is being "in the Spirit".

And "walking in the Spirit" is allowing the abiding presence of the Spirit to lead and guide you in your thoughts, actions, and decisions. It is the opposite of living in accordance to the law, as Bro. Blume stated. It is the daily, moment by moment, willingness to follow the Spirit's will and leading in all things as opposed to any codified list of laws, standards, or regulations.

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What about those saints who have not spoken in tongues since their initial infilling...those who do not have the gift of tongues? Does that mean that they can never pray in the Spirit?

Re: "in the Spirit"
 

:highfive Well said.

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Jeremiah 31
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

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Ezekiel 36
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

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Romans 8
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

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An example of what false teaching does. If one understands the Apostles teaching they would see themselves being COMMANDED to pray in tongues ALWAYS!

Paul defined praying in the spirit as praying in tongues. Then he commands the Ephesian Christians to pray in the spirit ALWAYS.

Jude tells his readers the same thing.

Today many if not most who think they are "Apostolic" have been taught they will only speak in tongues one time and thats it, robbing them of all the edifying power God has for them.

Re: "in the Spirit"
 

and you personally have seen fruit from this? Ty.

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I have seen lots of "praying in the spirit in tongues" from people who got up from their place of prayer not demonstrating any fruit of the spirit, but fruit of the flesh. Sickening really, and that is what gives "tongue-talkers" such a bad name, in my opinion. Too many have figured out how to speak a few words "in tongues", but their heart has never undergone a spiritual transformation.

However, I do know that there is a deep spiritual level of the heart that can be transformed by spending time in prayer, and in speaking in tongues. But... the outward fruit of such prayer is more the evidence that one has been in the spirit than the prayer itself, in my opinion.

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I do not believe a person has been filled with the Spirit if they did not speak in tongues. Paul spoke of praying in the Spirit in the same manner I believe the Apostles spoke of Holy Ghost baptism. It's meant for everyone. He spoke of prayer in tongues, which is the entire context of 1 Cor 14, as something everyone should do. However, not everyone has yet received the Spirit..

That's just the way I see it. I cannot see infilling without tongues, personally.

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1 Corinthians 14:14-15 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.

The context above shows praying in tongues to be something in which our understanding is unfruitful. IOW, praying WITH understanding is not praying in tongues. We cannot even understand what we are praying, ourselves, when we pray in tongues.

Notice he said HIS SPIRIT is praying when he prayed in tongues. That is what must be carried over into the next verse when we read about [praying in the spirit. He said that was contrasted from his understanding. So, if he prayed in tongues and his spirit prayed and his understanding was unfruitful, then the next verse speaking about praying in the SPIRIT is praying in tongues! And praying with the understanding is contrasted from praying in tongues, and refers to praying with understanding which means praying in our native language. We can understand our own native language. We see that by contrasting praying with understanding from praying in spirit. So, praying in the spirit cannot refer to praying in our native language. Context disallows that in these two verses.

Re: "in the Spirit"
 

That's not what I mean. I'm not talking about an initial infilling of the Spirit with the evidence of tongues but afterward, there are those who don't speak in tongues again, imo, because they don't have the gift of tongues. So if one spoke in tongues when they initially received the baptism of the Holy Spirit but never speak in tongues again, then how can they pray in the Spirit if praying in the Spirit always consists of speaking in other tongues?

I think I made that more clear. :)

Re: "in the Spirit"
 

I do not believe a person needs the gift of tongues to continue to speak in tongues after they received the Spirit. I do not have the gift of tongues, but I speak in tongues all the time in prayer. The gift of tongues is only for use with an interpretation to follow, from what I see laid out in scripture.

I get your point. But according to 1 Cor 14, and the 2 verses I quote earlier, I believe a person simply is not praying in the spirit if they are not praying in tongues.

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The context of the verse in question is the meeting, and Paul says that we are to prefer prophesying to tongues. He does not limit "in the spirit" to only unknown tongues as the surrounding verses show.

Nowhere is praying in the spirit defined as "praying in tongues". Although praying in tongues is praying in the spirit, the reverse is not true.

For example: Although all genuine miracles are works of the Spirit, not all works of the Spirit are miracles. Although all prophesying is speaking in the Spirit, not all speaking in the Spirit is prophesying.

So the apostle rightly states that if he prays, sings, or speaks in tongues, then he is praying, singing, and speaking in the spirit, because all those activities are done "in the spirit". But it would be an error to say all speaking, praying, or singing in the spirit must necessarily be in tongues.

Further, "my spirit prays but my understanding is unfruitful" does not mean ALL praying in the spirit is unintelligible, otherwise it would mean all praying that is understandable is done WITHOUT THE SPIRIT, which is absurd. For if that were true, no praying would be useful or acceptable unless it was wholly in unknown tongues! What he is saying is plain: if he prays in tongues he is praying in the spirit, BUT his understanding is unfruitful.

Notice the ONLY passage in all the bible that talks about praying in tongues is in the heart of a teaching on the superiority of prophesying to tongues, surrounded by instructions for tongue-talker to PRAY FOR INTERPRETATION.

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Ephesians 5
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Here the apostle commands us to be filled with the spirit, and gives several key identifying marks of being spirit-filled: speaking to one another in song; expressing thanks to God through Jesus; and submitting to one another in godly reverence. While these are not the only signs of being spirit-filled, they were important enough to be listed. Praying in tongues obviously was NOT important enough to be listed there.

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Anyone who has ever experienced travailing intercessory prayer knows that praying in the spirit is not limited to praying in tongues. Perhaps not enough people have experienced genuine travailing intercessory prayer, so the only praying in the spirit they know is tongues?

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Ephesians 6
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.

Here we are commanded to pray with ALL prayer and supplication "in the spirit". If praying in the spirit always and only means in tongues, then here is proof that we are to ONLY pray in tongues. But that is obviously not true. Notice we are to watch unto praying in the spirit making supplication for all saints. Paul wanted the brethren at Ephesus to include praying for him and his ministry. THIS COULD NOT BE OBEYED IF ALL PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT IS IN UNKNOWN TONGUES. Therefore, praying in the spirit is not limited to praying in tongues.

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While I agree with the general premise, that we should regularly pray in tongues (which I truly enjoy), I do believe that one can be "in the Spirit" and not speak in tongues. One can be "in the Spirit" while preaching, sitting quietly, while contemplating, while meditating on Scripture, while Studying Scripture, and while simply praying quietly or in their native tongue.

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I've often wonder if the indication that Paul's, "understanding being unfruitful", meant that he couldn't understand himself... or could it mean that what he said in tongues was unfruitful for those listening?

Just thinking here... not being dogmatic or argumentative.

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Excellent post.

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Here's a question:

If "praying in the Spirit" is always "praying in tongues"... does this mean that when we pray in English... we're not in the Spirit?

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Are you saying that in "travailing intercessory prayer", you probably won't always speak in tongues? Because, I don't see how that could happen when the Spirit of the Lord is present.

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In context of what he meant in 1 Cor 14 about praying in the spirit, it was solely tongues. That same phrase is not found anywhere else. But I agree being in the spirit does not necessarily mean in tongues. But prayer in tongues in this chapter does state that.

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You're praying with the understanding when in your native language.

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1 Corinthians 14:14-15 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.

The context shows praying with understanding to be prayer in native language. it's a contrast from native language to tongues respectively when it says with understanding and in the spirit.

You folks are mistaking him to say it is a contrast between being in the Spirit OF GOD or in the flesh. In the spirit here is not IN THE SPIRIT OF GOD. It does not mean not in the flesh. It simply means not with understanding. MY HUMAN SPIRIT prays when I pray in tongues. It is a lower case "S" in English to indicate human spirit.

Paul said MY SPIRIT prayeth.

1Co 14:14 KJV For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

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:thumbsup:thumbsup

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Here is a scripture that lets us know that deep spiritual prayer doesn't have to include speaking in tongues.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26

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Too deep for our own articulate words? That is when the Spirit takes over, in my experience, and then it is no longer my articulate words, the Spirit is doing the work at that point. At least, that has been my experience and my understanding.

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Yes, I know about praying with the understanding. But isn't all prayer to be Spirit led and spoken "in the Spirit"?

I've been overwhelmed with the Spirit's abiding presence while singing, witnessing, preaching, teaching, praying, etc. In all these instances, I was "in the Spirit". I've even received visions and spiritual impressions while being "in the Spirit". While tongues is definitely something that can only happen while in the Spirit... it isn't the only thing that can happen while one is in the Spirit.

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It isn't strictly one's own spirit that is praying. In fact, the Holy Spirit is also interceding.

Romans 8:25-27 King James Version (KJV)
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

How is it that it is considered to be our spirit praying, yet the Holy Spirit may also make intercession through us and our prayers? We read...

1 Corinthians 6:17 English Standard Version (ESV)
17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

He is truly the Vine... and we are the branches. Living extensions of Him. The Spirit prays and speaks through our spirit when tongues are taking place. This is also seen when coupled with interpretation. It is the Spirit that is speaking through His abiding presence in our spirit, our inner man. This realization broke upon me after God began using me with regards to tongues and interpretation.

That being said, even when we pray with understanding (as the Spirit leads), we are praying "in the Spirit".

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But this scripture speaks about the take over of the Spirit in prayer as "groans" which cannot be put into words. Groans are not the same as other tongues. I'm not saying that the Spirit doesn't pray through us in other tongues because clearly in 1 Cor 14: 14, He does, BUT the Spirit also prays through us without words coming out of our mouths but in groans. I've experienced that. So can you see how perhaps "praying in the Spirit" doesn't necessarily have to be "praying in tongues"? The Spirit can pray through us in different ways and is not limited to only tongues.

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 through wordless groans. NIV

26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.KJV

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I understand that and have experienced "groaning" many times. I'm just saying that throughout the duration of travail, I have groaned, spoke in tongues, groaned, etc.

IOW, going back and forth. So, yes, groaning is part of travail (for however long you are groaning), but not exclusively groaning. It just simply isn't the only element involved in travail.

The scriptures you cited are not a definite, for me, travail "only" includes groaning. It just doesn't. I couldn't use that scripture and teach it was an "only" element.

I've started out in tongues, gone into groaning. Sometimes I start out groaning and end up speaking in tongues. I know from my intense feelings, that I am in travail. Being that the Spirit is evidenced by speaking in tongues, I could never instruct anyone that "groaning" is all that is involved. I would feel I was not adequately portraying "travail" correctly if I did that.

Again, I don't see how when the Spirit is present, you will not speak in tongues as well. That is all I am saying.

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Sister, I am saying that just because a person isn't praying in tongues it doesn't mean they aren't praying in the spirit. I make no claims about everyone. What YOU do when the spirit comes upon you in travailing prayer may not be exactly what someone else does. You may erupt in tongues and another may be prophesying, and yet another may do both or neither.

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Because some people do not have the gift of tongues so they cannot pray with tongues even when the Spirit is present. Just because you speak with tongues (which means you have the gift of tongues) when the Spirit is present does not mean that everyone in the body of Christ speaks with tongues when the Spirit is present (although they did speak with tongues when they were initially filled with the Holy Spirit). And just because you speak with tongues doesn't mean that you are more spiritual than others who do not speak with tongues.

"Do all speak with tongues?" 1 Cor 12:30 The answer is "no, all do not speak with tongues."

God puts his body together the way He thinks is best. Different people are given different gifts and the diversity is a good thing. It makes it so that we all need one another. Some people speak with tongues and others don't.

I also didn't say that groaning in travailing prayer is the only thing that may be present. I didn't exclude tongues from any type of prayer. I was only trying to show that it is possible according to the scripture to pray in the Spirit without speaking with tongues. The unfortunate thing that would happen if you instructed someone in travailing prayer and said that it must include speaking with tongues is that, if you are wrong, you will make the person who does not have the gift of tongues feel like they are inadequate in prayer because they do not speak in tongues when they travail in prayer. And then they will become discouraged. Instead, you could say that when in travailing prayer they may speak with tongues, they may groan, they may prophesy, etc but to say that they must speak in tongues to be praying in the Spirit is putting an unfair burden on them that the word of God does not support.

It's fine if you don't use Rom 8:26 as an "only" scripture because I wasn't saying that it was an only scripture. Just as I don't believe 1 Cor 14:14 is an "only" scripture in favor of "only speaking with tongues when one prays in the Spirit".

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:thumbsup

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I see the scripture as saying "divers" kinds of tongues are different languages and the "gift of tongues" is used for interpretation. I would have to have God show me in the scripture where someone receives the initial evidence, but never speaks in tongues again. That should have nothing to do with being used in Tongues and Interpretation. I know people in that category, but I don't see it in scripture. What people do and don't do is not as important to me as what the scriptures say.

God uses me in all the gifts because I took His Word seriously and prayed that He would. As a new convert, I fasted 5 days for God to use me in the gifts. And I sought that with sincere intent to be useful to the Kingdom of God, not to pin honors on myself. That's how it should be - for the Kingdom of God - for the edification of the church. And let me add, it comes with a price.

The Spirit is what draws people to God. Whether in personal edification or edification of the church, we should seek His gifts.

By reading Acts 19:6 "And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied", I see that the gifts were manifested at the outset of the Church.

I came back to share this story. My son practices the drums at church just about every night. When he is finished, he turns and points back to the drums and says, "It's all for your glory, God." This last time, after having never heard himself speak in tongues for years, he began to speak in tongues and came home crying to share his story. So, I encourage anyone that hasn't spoken in tongues in years, keep believing, it will happen. Don't believe people who have settled with only speaking in tongues as initial evidence only.

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I don't see that in scripture. We are simply trying to establishment that travailing doesn't have to include tongues, and I don't see any strong evidence to agree with that view.