It is important to emphasize that there is a difference between operating in tongues for the sake of prayer and worship versus delivering a message (1 Corinthians 14:2, 15, 27). On the day of Pentecost, there were those who supernaturally heard in their own language the worship that was being expressed through the tongues that the whole assembly was speaking simultaneously. Yet also keep in mind that there were those who did not have the same supernatural experience – all they could hear and see was a group of people speaking in other tongues, and they mocked them (Acts 2:13). The same religious mockers are here today – they think that the expression of tongues is the product of reproachful men. What all these men need to hear both then and now is this – we are not drunk or carried away with some excess or demonic power, but this is what was prophesied by Joel. We are in the last days, God has poured out His Spirit, and this is what it looks like (Acts 2:15-16). This is the heavenly ministry of our resurrected Savior, who is the One who baptizes in the Holy Ghost and power. This is the proof that He has received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit and poured out this that can be seen and heard, yet mistaken by the religious as excess and debauchery (Acts 2:33).

There are other important points that Paul makes with regard to praying and singing in the Spirit. Paul tells the church at Ephesus not to be drunk with wine, but to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). The impact of being filled with the Spirit is to speak out psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with giving thanks to God. First it must be noted that there is no difference between being filled with the Spirit and being baptized with the Spirit. The last statement that Jesus made before He ascended up into heaven was that just as John had baptized in water, they would be baptized in the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:5). When they were baptized, the scripture refers to it as being filled, and thus draws out an equality between the two expressions (Acts 2:4). Being filled is pictured in Ephesians as a continuous and ongoing interaction between us and the Holy Spirit. We are to be continually filled as much as we are to continually sing and make melody in our heart (Ephesians 5:20). While it might be argued that the present passive imperative ‘πληροῦσθε’ may not definitely denote a continuous act of being filled, we can be certain that it is continuous because of what it produces: praise and thanksgiving. The praise and thanksgiving has many expressions, of which three categories are given here – psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Of most interest to us now are the spiritual songs. Paul’s definition for spiritual has already being supplied in First Corinthians. While others may want to impose their definition for spiritual, it is of little importance for truth seekers. We do not look outside of the scripture for the meaning and intent of God’s revelation, but wholly rely on God’s Word. Paul uses the same word here as he did in the opening statement of 1 Corinthians 14:1 (and verse 12). The word is ‘πνευματικαῖς,’ which means “spiritual” and by application in First Corinthians 14, “tongues.” He again uses the same word in his address to the Colossians and further equates being filled with the Spirit to the Word of Christ being richly supplied in the saints. Both produce the same results: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16). Paul’s definition of spiritual songs is singing in the Spirit, which is singing in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:15). Paul made it clear that praying in the Spirit was praying in tongues, because it was in direct contrast to praying with the understanding, or the language that could not be understood in the context of human languages (1 Corinthians 14:14, 16-18). Therefore, we have a command by the Apostle Paul that not only should there be psalms and hymns, but there should also be songs in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:15, Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16). Singing in tongues is part of the divine order of the church – they do not need to be interpreted, but generally are. Singing in tongues will lead those who do it into the inspiration of singing the new song by the Spirit. Now those who really know nothing about the operation of the baptism of the Spirit may say that this is not their experience. However, if you are unwilling to have tongues in the church, how could there ever be room for spiritual songs? Many have been imprisoned by culture and denominational bias, and have not known the liberty of the Spirit brought to us by the Word of God. God the Holy Ghost is not going to make us do anything. If we are going to have the riches of His blessings, then we are going to earnestly desire them. We will not have any dimension of the kingdom of God that we are not hungry and thirsty for.

Paul also admonishes us not only to sing in tongues, but also to pray in tongues as well. He calls us to pray with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18). Praying in the Spirit cannot be limited to praying with the understanding when Paul made it clear what he meant by praying in the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 14:15. Just as he described singing in the Spirit in contrast to singing in the understanding, the same application is given for prayer. Some will say that their translation does not capitalize the word for Spirit in 1 Corinthians 14:15 as it does in Ephesians 6:18. However, what you must understand is that it’s a subjective option for the translator, because only the context can imply it. If a translator does not believe that praying in the Spirit is referring to God praying through us in 1 Corinthians 14:15, then they are going to translate it as though it is our spirit that prays somehow apart from the Holy Spirit. However, our spirits have been joined unto the Holy Spirit, and therefore when our spirit prays it is under His leadership and guidance (1 Corinthians 6:17, 14:14). These are not the things that our spirit is inventing, but the direct utterances of the Holy Spirit praying through us (Acts 2:4, 1 Corinthians 12:10). As previously mentioned, Jude also instructed us to build up ourselves in our most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost (Jude 1:20). We certainly can’t exclude praying in tongues when we refer to praying in the Holy Ghost. Praying in the Holy Ghost is unique to the New Testament, and there is no reason to believe that a different meaning is being implied. Certainly, praying in the Spirit is equivalent to praying in the Holy Ghost. This is a different kind of prayer than is typically heard coming from many whose prayers are of their own thoughts and knowledge. Praying in the Holy Ghost is God Himself praying through us. One of the many beautiful things about praying in tongues is that we learn to yield to God the Holy Ghost in a way that bypasses our thoughts and knowledge. As we learn to yield to what the Holy Ghost is saying in tongues, we are taught to more effectively yield to Him with our understanding also. So by practical application, if you asked anyone who does not believe in tongues to pray in the Holy Ghost, they would be at a total loss of what to do.

Praying in the Holy Ghost is a wonderful part of the new creation. The Holy Spirit Himself makes intercession through us as He prays concerning the things that we need, according to the will of the Father and the mind of Christ (Romans 8:26-27). Allowing the Holy Spirit to take control of those things that we pray for with all prayer and supplication is an amazing gift (Ephesians 6:18). Through this wonderful activity of God that infuses us with divine speech, we find ourselves operating in the mind of Christ rather than in our own limited understanding.

The heavenly and supernatural activity of the Holy Ghost praying through us will quiet our lives and still everything around us, causing us to more deeply yield ourselves to Him. Praying by the Spirit will impact every dimension of our lives, because through it we learn to yield every part of our being to Him. We are not only influenced in our thinking and ability to communicate, but also in our emotions, passions, and attitudes. Once again, the prayer of the Holy Spirit has two expressions: one is the language that no man understands, and the other is the prayer that is in our own tongue (1 Corinthians 14:2, 15). These two expressions of prayer should always accompany one another in those who have allowed the Holy Spirit to mature their prayer life.

We are to seek those things belonging to the kingdom of God, and prayer is one of the foremost ways that we do that. Prayer is to be the result of the Spirit of the Lord acting upon our lives. It is one of the primary responsibilities in the kingdom of Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is the One who gives us the ability to know how to effectively do it. The prayer of the Holy Spirit activates faith – mountain-moving, nation-changing, soul-winning, heaven-revealing, miracle faith (John 11:41-44, Matthew 14:19-21, Luke 9:28-29, Mark 11:23-24, 1 Corinthians 12:9, Galatians 5:22, Jude 1:20, Matthew 7:7-11). These things pertaining to the kingdom of God and the working of the Holy Spirit are supposed to be taught to us and modeled in church. Unfortunately, in many places, prayer is a very small part of the activities of the “house of prayer.” Just as the church began in the books of Acts with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so it should be in every service. Yet rarely will you find anyone who yields the meetings to the Holy Spirit in such a way. If each service was a day of Pentecost repeated, the Holy Spirit would have control, and our results and impact would be far greater. There certainly would not only be praying in the Holy Spirit, but also singing in the Holy Spirit. Instead, we find many who persecute the move of God and want to argue about form and style. The doctrines of men have set themselves against the prayer and praise of the Spirit in the church, calling it out of order. They argue that there needs to be an interpreter, and that it is offensive and a stumbling block. Yet, they have no similitude of the order of which they speak. These so-called defenders of the faith do not have two or three messages in tongues, and neither do they want us to have them. We hear much about man-made order and an interpreter, but very little about someone praying in the Holy Ghost and praying with the understanding also. In so doing, many church services end up with very little manifestation of the Spirit or the kingdom of God in their meetings. Men so grieve the Holy Spirit with their hardness of heart that they have no tongue, no interpreter, and no manifestation of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). The order of the church has been man-made order for so long that the order of the Holy Ghost is not even recognized, and even worse, is despised and called “out of order.”

It is high time that we repent of our sensual and self-serving doctrines, and turn back to God. We must allow the fires of the Holy Spirit to burn brightly once again in the assembly of the saints. We must throw down the idols of self-will, and allow the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives individually – and as a result, our church meetings as well. Then our obscurity and defeat will be driven back, and the light and life of Jesus will once again shine bright in a world of sin and darkness. Then once again we will see a small but powerful church turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6).

There must also be a place given for people to be baptized in the Holy Spirit in every meeting just as they were on the day of Pentecost, or at the house of Cornelius, or at Ephesus. The manifestation of talking to God through praying in tongues and worshiping through singing in tongues must be promoted. Giving place for people to grow and excel through tongues so that they may also function in prophecy and interpretation of tongues must be given place. Everyone may speak in tongues at the same time as they did on the day of Pentecost and those events that followed (Acts 2:4, 10:46, 19:6). Everyone may pray in tongues at the same time, just as we do when we pray with the understanding. Everyone may sing in tongues at the same time, as we all sing any other song together. These conclusions do not contradict what Paul has to say in the rules of 1 Corinthians 14. It is Paul’s desire that everyone speaks with tongues as well as prophesy. The primary points that Paul makes regarding the interpretation of tongues is concerning a message in tongues and its place in delivering a divine message and instruction to the people (1 Corinthians 14: 19, 27-32).

While the spiritual prayer and song are the giving forth of praise in an excellent or perfect way, those who are unlearned cannot profit from it. Yet at the same time, that does not mean that it should not be done, for as Paul said “you give thanks well” (1 Corinthians 14:17). As was already stated, the prayer and the song in tongues should distill into a divine utterance that everyone can profit from. The expression of tongues should turn into speech that can be understood by all. This is especially true if it is an individual praying or singing in the meeting. Peter shows us how quickly tongues will result in the revealing the secrets of the scripture that had never before been understood (Acts 2:14-21).

Praying in tongues will lead into praying with the understanding also. Even though we may pray in tongues for an hour before the understanding is quickened, the results will be that which the Holy Spirit has to say. It is a wonderful blessing to sing in tongues, which then turns into a song of the understanding that the church can join along singing, and sometimes continue to sing for years. Paul has no intention of squelching the flow of tongues in the church service. He simply makes a call for each one to have increase through the activity of the gift and excel to those utterances that can be understood. The limits that he placed on tongues are only with respect to delivering a message (1 Corinthians 14:27-28).