S76P3 – The posture of prayer: total realignment
1 Cor. 14:13-15
Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.
She did not expect to be in that situation at that time of her life. She certainly was torn, but it was herself who was tearing her apart. Everyone on the outside looking in saw the same situation and told her she needed to make a change. Some days, he would be sweet, affectionate, and apologetic. Other days, he would breathe fire like a dragon and threaten to end her right then and there. Her issue was that her heart and her mind simply could not agree. Her mind told her what everyone else told her, which was that this relationship surely could end very tragically for her. Her heart, on the other hand, wanted to cling to the hope that her boyfriend could change tomorrow and eventually become a great husband to her. It was this misalignment of the heart and mind which kept her living in danger.
Before Christ, we are completely out of alignment. Our motives and ambitions are askew, and we simply do not know how to live these lives as God desires. Once we join God’s Kingdom, sanctification begins to realign the body, mind, heart, soul, and spirit. In the passage above, Paul talks about his mind and his spirit being in agreement. That is his desire for prayer, that he would know in his mind what God desires to produce in his spirit. Praying in a foreign tongue is great, but Paul wants to be connected enough to God to know what is being said. This is a great function of prayer, that we would be able to unite our various faculties in holy wisdom and knowledge. Through prayer we can bring ourselves to be submitted to God with everything in line with his will.
I do not want my spirit telling me to follow God while my mind or my heart tries to lead me elsewhere. I would wager that no true Christian desires to be in that state. We should not want the different parts of us fighting against one another and keeping us even slightly out of the will of God. If our desire is like his desire, we want every part of us to be wise according to God’s wisdom and smart according to God’s knowledge. As we seek God and make ourselves available through prayer, the Spirit will work to line that all up. Father, we ask that You would touch our minds, hearts, souls, bodies, and spirits, that every part of our being would grow in alignment with your will.