Different Kinds Of Prayer Part 2 : By James Lantz
Different kinds of sports have different rules in which the players must abide by and we who pray must also abide by the rules that apply to the particular kind of prayer we are using. There are certain things that are constant in all types of prayer, such as, being righteous ( or coming to the Father with an honest heart desiring to be made righteous ) and coming in faith. As previously mentioned, the prayer of consecration can include the phrase, if it be thy will, while the prayer of faith can only be prayed after the will of God is known. The prayer of agreement requires that two or more people on earth must agree as touching anything they ask for and it shall be done for them of our Father who is in heaven. Prayers of supplication can be prayed over and over again because we are holding these prayers up to the Father asking Him to intervene on behalf of His people.
The prayer of intercession is often prayed for a lost or wayward person or persons with the desire that God will be merciful and withhold or remove judgement from them. Isaiah refers to Jesus as the one who bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. We know that God is always looking for people to repent and turn away from sin so that he can extend mercy to them. Jeremiah writes of a people who once knew God but had rebelled and turned away to worship idols. God called for them to repent and return to Him but they turned a deaf ear and refused to be corrected and thus God told Jeremiah to not intercede for them. Jer. 7:16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee. This is a somber thought that God’s tremendous patience would end for those who stubbornly refuse to listen to His call but we see the same truth in the new covenant. 2 Peter 2:21 NLT It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. It really is not so much that God’s patience has run out but that God sees that they have made their choice. God knows the amount of truth that each of us know or don’t know. We read of God’s ability to save to the uttermost those who will receive His Son Jesus! Heb. 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. God has given His church two additional signature gifts, tongues and interpretation of tongues to bless and enable us to accomplish His purposes in the earth. One benefit of yielding our tongue to praying with the Spirit in other tongues or groanings is that we may intercede for people or situations that we don’t know or don’t know how to pray for as we ought. Praying with the Spirit allows God to help us pray out the perfect will of God thus overcoming our infirmity which is not knowing what we should pray for as we should. Romans 8:26 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. Romans 8:27 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. We must have a yielded heart before we can have a yielded tongue! A heart that is yielded to God is not attained by the mere passing of time but by the commitment we have made. God has put all things under Jesus feet and gave Him to be head over all things to His body the church.
Praying in other tongues is a way for your spirit to pray out words that are supernaturally given to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells in your spirit. God has gifted us with a divine ability to communicate with Him on His level through faith bypassing the limitations of our understanding. 1 Cor. 14:14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. Those who have received the promise of the Father can pray at will with the spirit or in other tongues just like you can with your understanding. 1 Cor. 14:15 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 ability to speak, pray, or sing, in other tongues comes with the gift of being baptized or filled with the Holy Spirit like the believers were in the early church. This gift is available to all christians everywhere who have named Jesus as their Lord! The gift of being filled with the Holy Spirit must be received by faith just like salvation, divine healing, and all God’s gifts. When the new testament was written it was the norm for all christians to be filled with the Spirit and speak with other tongues. Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Today many are confused about praying in other tongues because of wrong teaching and not seeing the value of God’s supernatural help in prayer. Some have believed that tongues passed away saying that the completion of the Bible is that which is perfect. 1 Corinthians 13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. A couple of verses later Paul clarifies that the perfect is when we leave this world and are standing face to face with Jesus in our glorified body. The word of God is perfect but obviously Paul was referring to the perfecting of our physical bodies being made like unto His glorious body which will not take place until He returns for
Four Different Kinds Of Tongues
His glorious church. There are four types of tongues mentioned in the scriptures. The first is tongues for public ministry. This type of tongue is a sign to the unbeliever. On Pentecost, foreigners heard the disciples speak the wonderful works of God in their own languages and realized this was a miracle of God. Acts 2:7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? The second is tongues for interpretation which is only to be given publicly when there is an interpreter present. The third type of tongue is for personal prayer to God. The fourth type of tongue is for intercession which is standing in the gap or pleading for someone. Every believer who receives what Jesus referred to as the promise of the Father can and should pray in tongues in their personal prayer life and be ready to be used of God in tongues for intercession.
Offer God prayers of praise and thanksgiving as you fellowship with Him each day! Giving God thanks is a way to enter into faith. Col. 1:11&12 NLT . . . May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. If you notice a whine in your voice realize that your spirit man has not yet moved into that place of thankfulness and that you need to meditate more on the goodness of God in what He has provided for you. Praise and thanksgiving not only helps us get in faith but helps us keep our faith active until the answer comes. Paul and Silas added praises to their prayer for deliverance and the answer came. Acts 16:26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. The Spirit of God through Paul exhorts us in his letter to the church at Colosse to continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Phil. 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
