You may ask, “But can’t I pray in my own language?”

Yes, but not to the degree you need to be praying. You can only pray with your own understanding according to the knowledge you have. Many times you will not know enough in the natural to accurately pray for the answer, but the Holy Spirit inside you will provide God’s solution when you pray in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit prays God’s higher way into the situation—His perfect will.

We should pray both ways the Apostle Paul said:

For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also (1 Corinthians 14:14-15).

The Holy Spirit is in us to bring to pass the will of God in our lives. Bringing to pass God’s will is the pre-eminent responsibility of the Church in the earth. Because the Church is made up of individual people, this responsibility starts with you and me. Each person in the Church standing before the Lord, being obedient to the Spirit of God, will cause God’s will to be done in the earth.

We are favored to be able to pray with the understanding and with the spirit. We do not know enough in our natural minds to be that glorious Church without spot or wrinkle, but in the spirit realm we do. We must reach down into our spirits that are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and find out what to do. As we take our place in the spirit, God’s special people will rise up in the earth.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries