Chapter 4: A Common

Misconception - Tongues vs. Groanings

The Agony of Waiting in Hope

Now letʼs unpack something that is not tongues, but it has been classified and grouped in with speaking in tongues. You see, whenever you see the word “ in the scripture, it represents language, but Romans 8:26 is not speaking of a language; it is speaking of “ groanings.”

Letʼs unpack this a bit further, starting at verse 22.

“For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” Romans 8:22-23 KJV Paul establishes that all creation groans, and not only creation, but we groan as well. One could argue to “ groan” is to agonize over.

“For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” Romans 8:24-25 KJV

Our salvation is a beautiful, precious thing, but according to the scripture, there are things that we have not seen that weʼve been promised—promises that we agonize over in the form of groaning. But we have been subjected to hope, which means God has designed this walk in Christ as a walk that requires trust in His word, trust in His promises, even though we have not seen them come to fruition. We are required to trust God when things are going well and also when things are extremely bad; we are required to wait on God. We wait on what He has promised, and because this is not always an easy task, the Spirit helps us.

Intercession Beyond Words

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: 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 hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27 KJV One normally experiences this when they have prayed and gone as far as they could go in their prayer based on their intellect, based on their knowledge of what to pray for. And now they are leaving it to the Spirit of God to make intercession for them concerning things that are beyond their intellect, beyond their knowledge, beyond their academic background. When this takes place, there is no language being spoken that a human could interpret. It is simply groanings of the Holy Spirit interceding for the vessel. Some never experience this form of prayer because they are way too invested in logic, and this takes blind faith and an abandonment of oneself.

Conclusion

I hope you have learned from and enjoyed this in-depth study on speaking in