When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, the first thing to happen is that we are filled with prayer, because the Holy Spirit is the bond between the Father and the Son, and prayer is communication between Them; the Son who speaks to the Father and the Father speaking to the Son. The beauty of intimacy that happens within the Trinity is made by the Holy Spirit. And this is prayer. In addition, he is the link between God and us. The prayer and the prayer that goes back.When we are introduced to the Spirit of the Lord, we left full of prayer, because the Paraclete is a prayer of fire, foolproof We give the fuel, which is our air, moving our vocal cords, move the mouth, tongue, generating sounds. And what happens? The Holy Spirit prays, sings and speaks in us.You can not imagine the value of this prayer! It is not just we who are praying, but the Spirit of God praying for us!
What happens in the gift of tongues? This happens outside our intellectual willing of the specific sounds. We move the vocal cords, let out the air, we move the tongue, mouth, and produce sound;but the content comes from the Holy Spirit.
St. Paul explains this in Romans 8:26: “Likewise the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.”
This explanation is quite simple: unutterable groans, or moans that can not be understood, unless God gives the interpretation. When you pray for your son or daughter, do you know exactly what they need? No. That’s why the Holy Spirit comes to our aid, we do not know what to ask or know how to pray as we ought. God Himself intercedes for us and for us with inexpressible groanings.
Hence the wonders happen, because it is the Holy Spirit praying in us, by us. St. Paul continues: “And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit indeed is according to God that the Spirit intercedes for the saints (Rom. 8.27)Therefore, the Paraclete knows our needs and presents.. the Father, who only attend if what we ask is for our good and according to the desires of the Spirit. This, in turn, does not ask for the wrong things or asks for nothing, like us., we can even ask something wrong or the wrong way, but the Holy Spirit does.
When we pray in the Spirit, He first asks according to need; thereafter;according to what God knows, that considers as the best. So praying in tongues is infallible; hence its value.
In praying in tongues, the Lord humbles us and tells us: “Put yourself aside, because now I will act not bother me anymore.”. And the Lord comes into play through the Spirit. When we pray in tongues, we do not have the enjoyment of our senses, our sense nor our intelligence.
It is through prayer in tongues we approach God. Only then the transformation begins to take place in our hearts, in our lives, in the lives of those we love. It is the gifts of the Spirit and its fruits in which the world begins to be renewed.
God wants this freely for everyone!
Article excerpted from the book “Aspirai aos Dons Espirituais” [Aspire for the Spiritual Gifts,] Monsignor Jonas Abib