I WILL PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT

pray with the understanding....(I Cor. 14:15).

Paul will not be satisfied with anything less than the fulness of the blessing

of the Spirit. He is determined to not only receive the full benefit of the spiritual

edification of speaking in tongues, but also to receive the benefit of the intellectual

stimulation of understanding what the mind of the Spirit is in the experience.

When we pray in tongues, our spirit prays but our understanding is unfruit-

ful. If we pray in a tongue, our spirit is praying by the inspiration of the Holy

Spirit, and we are talking to God. Tongues are to God. Our spirit is praying. We

are speaking in tongues by the Spirit, so the Holy Spirit is prompting our spirit to

speak in tongues to the Father in prayer. At those times when we do not know

what to pray for, Paul gives us an answer,

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. 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

(Rom. 8:26-27).

We know not what to pray for, and even if we did, we do not know how to

pray for it, so the Spirit prays the prayer for us, through us, according to the will

of God. Isn't that tremendous? God desires to answer the prayers of His children;

therefore, He does not leave it completely to us to try to determine for what or

how we should pray. Instead, He prompts our prayer through His Spirit, who

prays the prayer according to His will and, as a result, God gives us the desires of

our hearts. The Spirit prays for us, through us, so that God may give our desires

to us. Wonderful!

So when I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, and I am speaking by the

inspiration of the Holy Spirit. But, unless there is an interpretation, my under-

standing is unfruitful! I am praying, my spirit is praying, but my intellect is not

enlightened. It is not enough just to be edified spiritually. Paul wants us to have

understanding, to be edified intellectually. It is not enough just to pray in the Spirit

and think, "Well, I am very spiritual." No, I need understanding. I will pray with

the Spirit (my spirit will pray by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit), and

I will also pray with the understanding. I must have an interpretation of my

praying or singing in tongues.

I WILL PRAY WITH THE UNDERSTANDING

To pray with the understanding is to interpret the tongue in which we pray,

thereby knowing the meaning of the prayer. As I mentioned earlier, Oral Roberts

enlarges the concept of interpretation: "When I pray in the Spirit by speaking in

tongues and then I pray in English, one or two things may happen: I either speak

what I said to God in prayer or praise, or I speak God's response to me." God's

response may include three other speakings by the Spirit: a word of wisdom; a

word of knowledge; a prophecy.

The concept of interpretation has posed a lot of questions for people. Oral

Roberts, in a meeting with the Deans, shared with us what he believed about

praying with the Spirit and praying with the understanding. He said that after he

prayed in the Spirit, he would then pray in English, and try to sense if there was a

direct relationship between his speaking in the Spirit and his speaking in English.

Sometimes, his English prayer gave the meaning of his prayer in the Spirit. Other

times, in his English prayer there was a new idea, a new concept, a word, a

phrase, or a sentence that was anointed of the Spirit and was impressed upon his

mind.

Perhaps the best way I can illustrate his explanation of praying with the

Spirit is by discussing the way we read the Bible. Most of us believe that the Bible

is given by the inspiration of the Spirit of God. Holy men of God wrote the Bible

as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Even though it is inspired by the Spirit,

we sometimes read whole chapters, and do not receive anything. Why do we

read the Bible at times and do not get any inspiration from it? Is it because that

part of the Bible was not inspired by the Spirit? The answer is that even though

the word was inspired by the Spirit, at that moment He did not quicken any of it to

our hearts. So it is with praying in the Spirit. We might pray in the Spirit and then

pray in English, but there seems to be no correlation between our prayer in the

Spirit and our prayer in English. The Holy Spirit did not quicken or interpret our

prayer in the Spirit to us.

Other times, however, we read a chapter in the scriptures and a single word

is illuminated, a word becomes alive. The Spirit quickens that word to us and

through it, He interprets the whole chapter. Sometimes from a phrase, the Spirit

may bring the whole chapter alive. This is an illustration of tongues and interpre-

tation. We pray in tongues and we pray in English, but seemingly receive nothing.

The Spirit does not interpret even a word from our prayer. Nothing. Then, we

pray in tongues and we pray in English and we receive a new idea, a new concept.

Or, we may pray in tongues and pray in English and receive a whole phrase or a

whole prayer. God may give us an interpretation of the whole prayer. Therefore,

when we pray in the Spirit, let us pray that we may interpret that we may under-

stand what the Spirit is saying.

The reason Oral Roberts emphasizes tongues and interpretation is that

through these gifts the University came into being. He walked over this land

asking God how to build a university. For years he had preached a Pentecostal

message that included speaking in tongues and all the gifts of the Spirit. Howev-

er, it was as he was praying in the Spirit about building ORU that he began to

interpret what the Spirit was saying and God gave him a word of knowledge. He

began to see the outlines of the University.

Evelyn Roberts heard him praying in the Spirit and interpreting and she

thought, "Finally, Oral has lost his mind." But, he explained what had been

happening to him. He related that as he prayed in the Spirit and began to interpret

the prayer, God began to illuminate his mind and he began to understand a way of

communicating with God and a way of understanding what the Spirit would have

him do in relationship to building the University.

If the gifts of tongues and interpretation of tongues illuminate the intellect,

when we hear an utterance in tongues and an interpretation, we should meditate

on it, trying to understand it. We have the mind of Christ, and if we have the

mind of Christ, we ought to understand the things of God. So, when we hear an

utterance in tongues, let us listen to what is being said, and ask ourselves, "What

is this?" "What is the Spirit saying?" If it is a speaking by the Spirit, it should

have some value to us; it should have meaning. We should listen, trying to

understand what the Spirit is saying to the church.