How Shall We Pray?
I have been hearing a certain teaching on prayer for many years now, and recently, I heard it again. It basically goes like this, a preacher or teacher will make a point of telling you that he prays in tongues for several hours a day. He will then tell you that this is what we all need to do, and that it is a more powerful and better way to pray. Also he will tell us how great it is because then the devil doesn’t know what we are praying, like there is some advantage to that.
Where does this teaching come from? Well, I am sure that it comes from their experience and the charismatic doctrine that they have embraced and have been taught.
If you are in a charismatic church, you will tend to believe this teaching as well. You will have been taught that everyone should pray in tongues, with no exception, and that it is better.
But what do the scriptures say about prayer? Well, in James 5:16 it says this, “…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”. Interesting to note that there is no mention of “tongues”. If I were to paraphrase in it my own words, I would say that if a man is righteous, and he prays fervently, he has power with God. It really doesn’t matter if he prays in a tongue or whether the devils know what he is praying or not. I can find no where in scripture to refute that fact. Why do we want to add some new formula? God makes it clear in the scriptures as to what is important, being righteous and praying fervently.
Historically, there have been many men of God who have done mighty things and not embraced charismatic teachings. People used to say this about A. W. Tozer, “…just think of how great his works would be if he was filled with the Spirit”. I have heard with my own ears that comment made about Billy Graham. What nonsense! This teaching gives us the sense that we are better than these men. Clearly that is an error we can not afford.
We are to embrace sound teaching, supported by the scriptures. We are to be Bereans, as in Acts 17:11 “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true”. We are to examine the scriptures to see if the things we are being taught is true. This is the call to the men of the church. The Bereans even examined the things they were being told by Paul, should we be less diligent?
The truth is this “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”, in any language. Scripture supports this, and this alone.
Also see-
Proverbs 8:17
Hebrews 11:6
Niels Prip - Blog 
Bereans…that is the problem with the Church in America. Unlike those believers of Berea, Americans mostly do not read their Bibles but rely on what the Preacher says the Bible says on Sunday morning.
I have read the Bible through cover to cover 5-6 times in my life and i get so mad at what is passing for “sound doctrine” these days. I come from a staunch conservative Baptist background where they preach Salivation by Grace, then teach Legalism as a way of life after you get saved. Christian conduct is always about how you treat and care for your fellow man.(The Golden Rule). It has nothing to do with smoking, or drinking (I do not drink), or dancing, or playing cards or going to movies or rock-n-roll. Yet, I was taught all of that was “sin” growing up. Shame on them. The most hateful people I have ever dealt with were “Fundamentalist Baptist”. I am the son of a retired Baptist preacher, and i get treated as a leper by the folks of the denomination i grew up in, because i walked away from their legalistic bondage and walk in the Liberty of the Lord. Jesus Christ is my living Lord and Redeemer who died for me on the Cross. Because he lives I live. Period! Nothing else can be added. “By Grace are ye saved, It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast!”
God bless.
Larry