In as much as there are different kinds of prayers, from the prayer of thanksgiving to the warfare prayer to the prayer for forgiveness, Hannah-like prayer to prayer, to prayer of supplication, praying in the Holy Ghost and so much more. I think that many people have begun to forget who these prayers go to, people are beginning to forget that these prayers are communication lines between God and the offerer of the prayer. More than often in recent times, I hear and see people charge into prayer, blasting in tongues without even first acknowledging the Alpha and Omega, the author and perfecter of our faith. Except it is an emergency and we are in dire need of rescuing, I think that courtesy only demands that we first acknowledge God, like say hi to Him, and thank Him for His past goodness over our lives before going into the matter on the ground.
King David was given the accolade, of “the man after God’s heart” by God Himself for a reason. God examined all of David’s acts and concluded that he was the man who knew and understood his love language. King David who knew how to touch God’s heart told us in Psalm 100:4 – “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name”. Therefore my dears, let us take cognizance of this and enter God’s courts with thanksgiving and praises. Think about it; let us imagine for a minute that you and I were invited to Buckingham Palace, we would for sure greet the king and queen first before going into any item on our agenda. No matter how much we return to the palace during the day, I am almost sure that that reverence for the throne will stay intact. If we can do that for mere men who will die, how much more reverence we should accord our heavenly father whose reign is eternal? Even much more, Jesus teaches us how to pray in Matthew 6:9, He said, the model prayer starts like this, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name”. So you see, our dear Jesus even teaches us to first acknowledge God’s awesomeness before anything in prayer. As I type this, I am reminded of different occasions when Jesus Christ prayed to the Father. At Lazarus’ tomb, Jesus lifted His eyes to heaven first and thanked God before calling Lazarus forth from the land of the dead – John 11:41-44. When Jesus fed over 5000 men with two loaves of bread and five fishes, He first gave thanks too before breaking the bread.
And He directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people - Matthew 13:14-21.
At this point, I believe I have been able to convey the message to you, my dear, enter God’s courts with praise and thanksgiving in your heart.
Finally, I would love to address the fact that there is time for everything under the sun as written in God’s word. There is time to build up our most Holy faith by speaking in tongues, there is time to confess God’s words over our lives and there is time to pray in our understanding. I am beginning to notice that there is a tendency for believers to over-flog praying tongues, even when the prayer leader gives a prayer direction. Scripture tells about decreeing things so that they are established on earth. When we make a declaration, we enforce heaven’s will on earth. More so, we see classic examples from our father in creation. As God created the heavens and earth, He spoke things into existence, Jesus Christ decreed and spoke healings into existence Elijah declared that there be no rain for three years and it was so. Elijah also prayed for rain to pour down after three years and rain came down. Praying in the Holy Ghost is primarily for times when we find ourselves in times and moments where we cannot find the words to express our emotions, then we hand them over to the Holy Ghost to make intercessions for us. Praying in tongues is also exercising our spiritual muscles and can be done daily by all means but it should not be used to replace praying in our understanding, praying God’s word and will over our lives.
May the good Lord give us understanding in Jesus’ name.