Richard Roberts
When our firstborn son died after living only 36 hours, Lindsay and I both cried until we had no more tears. Yet we kept crying deep in our souls. We tried to pray and the words just seemed to bounce off the ceiling. We felt the devil mocking us, saying, “Now how are you going to stay in the healing ministry?” We were broken and hurting.
What do you do in situations like that, where the loss you feel is beyond words? Lindsay and I did the only thing we knew to do ― hold each other and pray in tongues.
When you pray in tongues ― or pray in the Spirit ― you are actually tapping into the Holy Spirit’s prayer on your behalf. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit dwells within you, and that He is constantly making intercession for you. Roman 8:26,27 KJV tells us, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities [or weakness], for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
In order words, for Lindsay and me to know the will of God and to hear a word from God after our son died, we needed to get beyond ourselves and into the Spirit, for only the Spirit knew what God would have us do next. It was out of our praying in the Spirit that God spoke to us, “I am going to heal you while you are ministering to others in Nigeria.” A great miracle crusade to Nigeria had already been planned and I decided to go ahead with that trip. Lindsay joined me a few days later in Africa. And there in Nigeria, we saw some of the greatest healing miracles we’ve ever witnessed in our lives. On one night we saw over 25,000 people give their lives to Jesus. A healing did, indeed, start in our hearts.
Are you unsure today about what God wants you to do next? Pray in the Spirit until you hear a word of direction from the Lord. He alone knows the best “next step” for you to take.