Prayer and Revelation - Online Christian Library

the limitations of our minds. However, if our interpretation of this passage is correct, wehave already eliminated the possibility that Paul is referring to tongues. Our interpretationsays that it is the Spirit who prays in inaudible "groans" in a manner that is apart fromand imperceptible to believers, but this description excludes tongues altogether. This isnot to say that the Bible does not endorse speaking in tongues; whether it does or not, thispassage does not seem to have tongues in mind.This brings me to a point related to speaking in tongues, although it is not directlyrelevant to our passage. Regardless of whether we think speaking in tongues is for today,and regardless of what we think it does, many people who speak in tongues use it in away as to avoid having to struggle through the difficulties of praying in English (or theirknown languages). That is, whenever they find it hard to express themselves in English,or whenever they find it hard to extend the length of their prayers, they will simply beginspeaking in tongues, and thus avoid having to exert further effort in prayer. As a result,some important aspects their spiritual growth are halted.This is one criticism that Neil Babcox offers against speaking in tongues. Although hethinks that speaking in tongues is not for today, even if he is wrong about this, what hesays below is still applicable:At no time are we more aware of our weakness and inadequacythan when we kneel to pray….In the face of such spiritualhelplessness, tongues can become a crutch. For example, when Ifound myself mute and dumb in His presence, I could far tooquickly remedy the situation by praying in tongues. Again, when Iwas oppressed with a sense of guilt and felt alienated from God, itwas far more easy to pray in tongues than to search my heart forthe cause of the guilt. But what was all of this if it was not anevasion? Whereas previously I could avoid the difficulties inherentin prayer by resorting to tongues, now I found myself praying,"Lord, teach me to pray." 35There are various reasons why you may have trouble praying in English, but almost all ofthem relate to deficiencies in the mind. Maybe your thoughts are unclear; maybe you areeasily distracted; maybe you lack the ability to put your thoughts into words; or maybeyour ignorance of scriptural teaching prevents you from properly relating to God.Whatever the reason may be, rather than giving up or resorting to tongues, you muststruggle to attain fluency in pray. And since most of the problems are in the mind, this isthe area that you must work on. Peter Kreeft writes, "The first cause of a specificallyhuman act is always internal, not external. By 'a specifically human act' I mean one likeasking a question, creating a work of art, making a moral choice, affirming anotherperson, or appreciating the beauty of nature – or praying….That is why thought is wherethe action starts….Thought is the first battlefield." 3635 Neil Babock, My Search for Charismatic Reality; The Wakeman Trust, 1985; p. 65-66.36 Peter Kreeft, Prayer for Beginners; Ignatius Press, 2000; p. 38-41.25