SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE BY DR. MENSA OTABILSER (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA)
About Mensa Otabil Mensa Otabil is a respected Christian statesman, educator, entrepreneur and motivational speaker. He oversees the multi-faced network of ministries of the International Central Gospel Church with its headquarters in Accra, Ghana.
TOPIC: PRAYING ON THE SPIRIT – PART 1
DATE: 12TH JUNE, 2022
TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 14:2
Let’s rise up together as we take our DECLARATION OF INCREASE in this Year of Increase:
Are you ready? Say with me:
I confess today that Jesus Christ is my LORD and Saviour. In Him I have life, His Abundant Life.
The Lord is my Light and Strength. As He is, so has He made me. By His Spirit I Increase in Word and in Wisdom. In Faith and in Favour.
The Lord has said: “In Blessing, I will bless you. In multiplying I will Multiply your Seed.”
So, I can boldly say: My God shall Increase me more and more. What I Place in God’s Hands grows into Overflow.
Though I begin small, my end shall Greatly Increase.
In this Year of Increase, I grow in Grace and in Strength. To be all that God wants me to be.
In Jesus’ Name – AMEN!
DR MENSA OTABIL (ICGC)
I am teaching today on: PRAYING ON THE SPIRIT – PART 1.
… Or some people would say: PRAYING WITH THE SPIRIT.
It is a Phrase that many of us may be familiar with – Normally, People associate it with Praying in Tongues.
And so I am going to talk about that for this week and next week. And explain some things from the Scriptures; and also get us into Prayer in a certain direction.
So, I am going to focus most of what I’ll teach today on 1 Corinthians 14. And the background to this is that Paul had set up a Church in Corinth.
The Church in Corinth was a very enthusiastic Church and very Spiritually active. And so Spiritually active that sometimes, they go into excesses.
And so in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul is correcting some of the mistakes in the Church. Prior to 1 Corinthians 14, he had spoken about Holy Communion;
In Chapter 12 he talked about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit; in Chapter 13 he talks about Love and how they should walk in Love. And in Chapter 14, he is talking about Speaking in Tongues and how it must be done in Church.
So I am going to focus on 1 Corinthians 14:2:
For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the Spirit he speaks Mysteries.
So Paul talks about something he calls ‘Tongue.’ Popularly this time we call it Tongues: we add an ‘s’ to it. But when Paul was talking about it, it was “Tongue” (as a Singular). But it still talks about the same thing.
That word in the Greek can be applied to the Physical tongue we have in our mouth; it can also be aplied to any language you speak.
So, English is a “Tongue”; “Fanti” is a tongue; and every language is a tongue. Some more tongued than the others but every Language is a tongue.
But in a context that Paul is using the word tongue, he is not talking about the Physical Tongue; neither is he talking about just any Language at all – Like any Language we know.
In this context, he means a Special or Spiritual Expression in an Unlearned Language.
… Sometimes it is called, “Unknown Tongue(s)”.
So, This is the context in which Paul is using this word (Tongue) – A Spiritual Expression in an Unlearned Language.
It’s a Spiritual Expression, it’s a Language, but the Language is not the normal one you know, have learnt and see familiar with.
So, this is the Holy Spirit empowering People to be able to express a Spiritual Idea in Language they have not learned.
Speaking in Tongues is or should be by the Spirit! It must be in the Spirit and not in the flesh.
Because if you read the first expression of it in Acts 2:4; the Bible says: “… And began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
So the utterance is given by the Holy Spirit; but the speaking is done by human beings.
But the utterance, the Origin of it is the Holy Spirit. The Expression of it is human!
So Speaking in Tongue must originate from the Spirit – It’s very important! It must be an utterance inspired by the Holy Spirit.
In this 2 Corinthians 14:2, Paul talks about Speaking in Tongues, and he says: first, the Person who speaks in Tongues speaks to God – That simply means that God understands what the Person is saying.
1. When a Person is speaking in Tongues, they are speaking to God!
And it makes sense because, if it is inspired by the Holy Spirit, then God understands what the Person is saying.
… It is a Language that God understand!
However, the Passage (2 Corinthians 14:2) also says, apart from God Who understands what the Person is saying, no one understands what the Person is saying.
No one understands! Including the Speaker himself or herself – They don’t understand what they are saying. And the Hearers also don’t understand. But God understands because they are speaking to God.
So that’s the first thing Paul says, that when you speak in Tongues, you are speaking to God.
2. Then Secondly, he says that when People speak in Tongues; they are speaking Mysteries.
That’s a very important word.
And I am going to explain what he meant by Mysteries.
Mysteries mean that Nobody understands what the Person is saying – We don’t understand what the Person is saying; he speaks to God and God understands.
At the same time, for the Person who is speaking and those who are listening; it’s a Mystery they don’t understand.
Now that word Mystery is something we have to breakdown, because we need to always understand the Scripture as it is to be understood.
He says: “For no one understands him: “… for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the Spirit he speaketh Mysteries.”
So the Question you would ask is: “If the Person is speaking Mysteries, whom is he speaking the Mysteries to?” Because a Mystery is something you don’t understand.
So, if he is speaking Mysteries, is he speaking Mysteries to God? Of course not! Because God understands what the Person is saying.
And if God understands what the Person is saying, it is not a Mystery to God.
Something is a Mystery to you only when you don’t understand it.
When Apostle Paul said, the Person who speaks in Tongue speaks in Mysteries; the Mysteries are not Mysteries to God – They are Mysteries only to those who don’t understand!
Even in the Natural: If somebody comes here from Afghanistan and starts to speak Afghan. And start talking Afghan up and down, very animated and gibbering in his Language;
It will be a Mystery to us.
Why? – We don’t understand! But for those who understand that Language, it is not a Mystery.
When the Bible says that when a Person speaks in Tongue they are speaking Mysteries – They are not speaking mysteries to God because God cannot be mystified by what we say.
It is only a Mystery to the extent that both the Person speaking and those listening do not understand. And in-so-far as they don’t understand, it is a Mystery to them.
… I hope you are following that? Okay.
Because sometimes People use speaking in Tongues as a talisman. So when they Pray they feel somehow, they are talking about Deep Spiritual Mysteries from somewhere.
And somehow People think that once they can Pray enough in Tongues their Problems would be solved because they are dealing with Mysteries.
But you have to understand the context in which Mystery has been used here:
It is used because, it is a Mystery to the Speaker and to the Listeners but not a Mystery to God.
Paul doesn’t end there! He is saying, if Speaking in Tongues is a Mystery to us, what should we do? How do we move it from the Mystery Stage?
He answers that Question in 1 Corinthians 14:13-14 – Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue Pray that he may interpret. For if I Pray in a tongue, my Spirit Prays, but my Understanding is Unfruitful.
So what is Paul saying?
Paul is saying: to cure the Mystery, then you have to Pray that God will help you to understand by the same Holy Spirit Gifting you, that what you said that you didn’t understand, He will make you to understand.
… Later on he explained why that is so.
So, he says, because it is a Mystery to you, you need to understand what you are Praying about – Alright!
Now, he makes the Statement: “When I Pray in “A TONGUE” …”
Today we would say: “When I Pray in Tongues!
I want you to note something, even before I make any further explanation;
First, he talks about he that speaks in Tongue – There are Three (3) Action words you would Notice in relation to Tongue:
I. Speaking – Is an Action word;
II. Now he is talking about Praying;
III. And later on he will talk about Singing.
So, there is a SPEAKING in Tongues; there is a PRAYING in Tongues; there is a SINGING in Tongues.
… But we are focusing more o PRAYING – Not Speaking. But Praying!
Now, when we Pray in Tongues, we normally call it: “The Prayer Language of the Spirit.” It’s a language of the Spirit that is expressed through us.
And when a Person is Praying in Tongues, they themselves don’t understand what they are saying; the People listening don’t understand what they are saying.
What they are saying is a Mystery to them; it’s a Mystery to their Audience but they are Praying.
It’s not rubbish, it’s not nonsense. It is not gibbering! Because sometimes People say, “Speaking in Tongues is nothing.” It is something! According to the New Testament, it is Prayer.
What type of Prayer is it? – It is Praying in the Spirit.
So Paul says, “For if I Pray in a tongue, my Spirit Prays.”
What does that mean? – It means, my Spirit is actively involved in what is going on.
That’s why we call it, “The Prayer Language.” Because, my Spirit is Praying. And it is a Glorious thing when your Spirit is Praying; when your Spirit is expressing himself.
If he is truly expressing himself, led by the Holy Spirit, then what he is saying would be right.
Because the Holy Spirit would not lead your Spirit to Pray the wrong kind of Prayer.
So Paul says, when I Pray in Tongues, my Spirit Prays. My Spirit is Praying; my Spirit is the one who is Active.
Now when he says, my Spirit – The “My Spirit” there is not the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit is not your Spirit. That’s God’s Spirit.
But he said, when I Pray in Tongue, my Spirit Prays. He didn’t say the Holy Spirit Prays. But “My Spirit Prays.”
Now how does that happen? – The Holy Spirit inspires my Spirit to Pray!
… The Spirit gave them utterance.
The Holy Spirit inspires your Spirit. But that Prayer is not coming from the Holy Spirit. It is coming from your Spirit, which is United with Christ, is Born Again. Now being given the Expression to Pray: through the Agency of the Holy Spirit.
“My Spirit Prays!” – My Spirit is actively involved!
But then he says something very troublesome: “… My Understanding is Unfruitful.” My Mind is not engaged.
So this is a kind of Prayer – He says, I’m Praying in Tongues, my Spirit is Praying but my Mind is in Neutral Gear. My Mind is not doing anything beneficial.
And that is why, People can Pray in Tongues and be absentminded. They can be absentminded!
Sometimes somebody is watching Television and going around speaking in Tongues.
And we do that a lot you know! As someone used to say: Perambulating, walking round the Place (Laughter). Even in Prayer Meetings People are speaking in Tongues and waving to each other.
And why are they doing that? It’s because their Mind is asleep, their Mind is unfruitful.
Is it a Good thing for you to Pray – Your Spirit is actively Praying, but your Mind is Unfruitful?
So, if my Spirit is Praying and my Mind is Unfruitful, it’s not good for me. Because if my spirit is Praying and my Mind is Unfruitful, it means that Faith is not activated.
So that Prayer I am Praying – Although it’s in the Spirit, it’s not of Faith. Why is it not of Faith? It’s because Faith comes by hearing, believing and declaring the Word of God.
Praying in Tongues therefore, because my Mind is Unfruitful, will not become a Prayer of Faith. It is a Spiritual Prayer, but it is not a Prayer of Faith.
Because I don’t know what I am talking about; I don’t know what I am believing; I don’t know what I can continue to trust God to.
So, if I Pray in Tongues today, and let’s say my Spirit led me to Pray for a Particular Person who is going through a Marital Challenge. And my Spirit wants me to intercede. So I Pray in Tongues for that Person. But I don’t know why I am Praying.
The next time I am Praying, I cannot pick up that Prayer topic again (Praying for that Particular Fellow with a Marital Challenge). And Prayer has to be Persistent.
How can I Persist in Faith when I didn’t know what I Prayed for?
… Are you following what I’m saying?
I know some of you are getting very nervous – “Hey Pastor, are you saying we shouldn’t Pray in Tongues?” I’m not saying that. I am explaining how you can make the Spirit effective.
Faith comes by hearing: you must hear and understand and believe and declare. That’s is Faith.
If you heard and you didn’t understand it, Jesus says it’s like a Person who heard the Word of God and the birds of the air came to steal it. There’ll be no fruit! That’s why the Bible says, my Mind is Unfruitful. Because I don’t even know what I am talking about.
HOW DO WE SOLVE THIS PROBLEM?
When a Person is Praying in Tongues, his Spirit is Praying Current of Prayer to God. But he doesn’t know what he is talking about. Because it is a Mystery to him.
How do we reconcile the two? How do we solve this Problem?
Paul anticipated the Question; and so in 1 Corinthians 14:15, he says: What is the conclusion then?
So, he has shown us the dichotomy – When I am Praying in Tongues, my Spirit is Praying; my Mind is not Fruitful.
… What should we do then? What’s the conclusion?
He says, the conclusion is: I will Pray with the Spirit, and I will also Pray with the Understanding. I will sing with the Spirit, and I will also sing with the Understanding.
So, two (2) Things he says he will do:
I. I will Pray with the Spirit.
I want you to note, “I will” – It’s a Choice.
Praying with the Spirit is the same thing as Praying in Tongues. And we must all desire to Pray in Tongues.
Once you get Born Again, you must desire that you are filled with the Holy Spirit; and that you’ll have the Prayer Language of the Spirit because your Spirit must Pray.
So, Paul says, I will Pray with the Spirit. And then he continued to say:
II. I will Pray with the Understanding also.
Now what did he mean by “I will Pray with the Understanding also?”
Does it mean I’ll just say something in Tongues and then say something in English or my Local Language? Is that what he is saying?
That’s not what he is saying!
Remember, he said earlier on, that when you Pray in Tongues, you must also Pray that God gives you the ability to interpret.
So what Paul is saying simply is: When you Pray in Tongues, don’t put it in Neutral Gear and just keep on blasting in Tongues all the way for three (3) hours or so.
But as you Pray in Tongues, Pray, God help me to understand what my Spirit just said to You; so that my Understanding would be Fruitful.
So I can know exactly what my Spirit is Praying for in the Spirit; I can believe! And Faith can now be met with my Spiritual Language. And that makes it a very Powerful Force.
The Practice most of us have developed over the years is what I call, “Endurance Praying in Tongues”.
People have developed a bad habit of determining Prayer or Spiritual Vitality by how long a Person can Pray with his Mind Unfruitful.
So, People go to a Prayer Meeting – Shall we Pray! We don’t even know the Topic, we don’t know what we are Praying for; we don’t know the Word of God we are believing.
Let’s Pray! And then they start speaking in Tongues all the way – three (3) hours! And People will come and say, Ha, it was Powerful. Hey, today it was Powerful. We went three (3) hours Non-Stop!
Was your Mind Fruitful? – No! Do you know what you talked about? – No! Was it a Mystery? – No! What did you believe God to do? – I don’t know! My Spirit has taken care of it.
Please says No. We have to move away from ignorance – So whilst your Spirit is Praying, you must Pray that your Mind would be Fruitful.
And how do you do that? The same Holy Spirit, Who gives us the ability to Speak in Tongues, also has another Gift called the Interpretation of Tongues.
And if you go to Him and say – You are now inspiring me to say these things, now help my Mind to understand. He will now drop into your Mind what your Spirit said!
… Are you following me?
So, when that happens, You can now do what Paul says: “I will Pray with the Spirit, I will Pray with the Understanding.”
How did he get the Understanding? – Through the same Holy Spirit, making his Mind Fruitful.
Then the next verse (1 Corinthians 14:6). I think this is quite explanatory – If you Pray with your Spirit without Praying with your Understanding, he says:
Otherwise, if you are bless with the Spirit, how will he who occupies the Place of the Uninformed say “Amen” at your giving of Thanks, since he does not understand what you say?
How can anybody agree with you in Prayer if you gibber in Tongues and they didn’t know what you said? How can they say: “I agree”?
… “Amen” means “I agree”.
So you Pray in Tongues (whatever you said). You can even tell People: “Say Amen”. But what did they say Amen to?
So Paul is saying: You have blessed the Person with your Spirit. The Person must know the Blessing so that he can say “Amen” to it.
Because the Prayer that God answers is the Prayer of Faith.
God responds to Faith.
Faith is not squeeze your eyes hard: “I believe, I believe, I believe!!!!!” No, that’s not Faith.
Faith is simply, “God has Promised it, He is a Faithful God. This is what He Promised; I believe what He has Promised, because He is a Faithful God. And I rest in Him and what He had Promised because He will do what He has Promised.”
But for that to happen, I must know what God has Promised. For me to even know, how to waive my Faith, I must know what we Pray for.
You know, sometimes one Person Prayed – Father, we Thank You for this and continue the Prayers. And when we finish, all of us say “Amen!”
Do you know why we say “Amen”? We are saying that the Prayer that was Prayed by one Person is our Prayer too.
So, God’s Presence is no longer one Person’s Prayer; it is called a “Corporate Prayer” – All of us who said “Amen” have agreed to that Prayer. Therefore, it is our Prayer also.
If I Pray that God will increase you.more and more; and expand you. And you say “Amen” you are saying, “God, what he said is also what I am saying.”
But if I said that in Tongues, you wouldn’t know what I said. Even if you said “Amen” you wouldn’t know whether I was Praying for somebody in Africa or I was Praying for somebody in Afghanistan – You wouldn’t know!
So you said Amen to something you didn’t understand. And Paul is saying, how can someone you are Praying for say “Amen”?
One of the things that everybody who has the Prayer Language of the Spirit should have is that, they must Pray for the ability to Understand what they are Praying for in the Spirit.
And we can ask the same Holy Spirit, and He would give it to us.
That is why when you Pray in Tongues, it’s always important to keep quiet at a Point: to ask the Holy Spirit to interpret to you what you just Prayed in the Spirit. So your Mind would not be Unfruitful – Your mind would be Fruitful.
So, from now onwards you would know – This is the burden the Holy Spirit Places on my Spirit to Pray about. And now I can continue Praying in that same direction, believing God for the Perfection of what my Spirit initiated in Prayer.
But if all you did was just Praying in Tongues, and you think that it’s a Magic one, you are waving somewhere. And because you Prayed in Tongues, Power has been released!
Yes, Power has been released! But we have to also get into Understanding.
It’s a very Powerful Weapon that God has given to us, but ignorance would make us fall short of the expectation of the Power of our Prayer, as we Pray in the Spirit.
So, when we pray with our Understanding; the basic way to Pray with our Understanding is to read the Bible; take God’s Promise and Pray according to it.
But it could also be that the Holy Spirit interpret back to you what you have just Prayed in the Spirit.
Since about 1979, that’s how I have Prayed – If I Pray in Tongues, I have to wait, I have to Pause.
I have to ask the Holy Spirit:
– What was that all about”?
– What are you Communicating to me?
– What are You telling me?
– What do you want me to continue Praying about?
You don’t just go like a horse that is broken free, and is just galloping Non-Stop! And thinks that it’s Powerful.
Now I know that because these days there is Plurality of Preaching; and you will hear all kinds of Preaching; you will hear other People who just say otherwise. You know, I am fine!
You know, I always stick with the Scripture. I don’t care what anybody’s experience.
Somebody said, at Midnight I Pray in Tongues three (3) hours and this happen.
Fine! That’s your experience. But I can’t find the Validity of it anywhere in the Scriptures. And until we can ground our Christian Actions in the Scripture, we can easily move into error. Our Actions must come grounded in the Scriptures!
So, by all means, Pray with the Spirit. But also Pray that the Holy Spirit would give your Mind of Understanding so that you can say like Paul: “I would Pray with the Spirit, I would Pray with the Understanding”.
And then he goes ahead, “I would Sing with the Spirit, I would sing with the Understanding.”
… I would deal with Singing in the Spirit next week. But today, it is Praying in the Spirit.
You cannot Pray in the Spirit if you have not received the Prayer Language of the Holy Spirit. If you have not received it – What people call the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the infilling of the Holy Spirit or whatever term it is.
It is the Holy Spirit giving you that Spiritual Language, so that you can Communicate to Him in the way He wants you to communicate.
And then the same Holy Spirit enlighten your Mind so that you will know where your Spirit is going: what your Spirit is leading you to, what your Spirit wants you to focus on.
Now, even after you have Prayed in the Spirit, you can now go searching the Scriptures to now add Faith to what you were Praying for in the Spirit.
And that is the way to Pray effectively, Powerfully and receive answers to your Prayer – AMEN.
Now we are going to Pray!
And if you are here now or reading the Message on the Label of DMC and you say: I want to receive the Prayer Language of the Holy Spirit, the ability to Speak in Tongues – I want to receive that.
Jesus says, ask! That’s what He said – “Ask the Father, He will give it to you”.
So, we are going to Stand up as we Pray. Let’s rise up everybody.
Is there anybody who desires the Prayer Language of the Holy Spirit?
You desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to be Praying in Tongues.
You haven’t done that before, and you want God to give you that ability, just lift up your hands wherever you are.
Now, everybody just Pray along with me and say: Heavenly Father, I believe Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. I am Your Child, and I ask you Father, give me the Gift of the Holy Spirit. Let my Spirit Pray by the Inspiration of Your Holy Spirit.
And grant me the Prayer Language of the Holy Spirit, that I can Communicate to You by Your Spirit, the way You want me to Communicate.
And Father, give me Understanding so that my Mind would know what my Spirit is saying.
I receive today, the Gift of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus’Name – Amen.
…. Now begin to talk to the Lord!
And I Pray Father, that You give to Your People the Interpretation of the Prayer Language. The Interpretation of Tongues, that they will Understand what they are saying in the Spirit.
That their Minds will be Fruitful. Take us beyond the Spirit into Faith. So we will walk in the Spirit and we will walk by Faith.
Let there be a Release of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit over God’s People, in the Name of Jesus.
And we give You Lord, Praise for answered Prayer – Amen.
… Let us celebrate the Lord for His Goodness and for His Mercy.
Thank you so much for staying all through to read.