Here is another great illustration to use in teaching about the importance of praying in the Spirit. Once again, I will give a brief, skeletal overview of the illustration. Then, with the Holy Spirit’s help, you can personalize the illustration to become a powerful teaching tool.
The Importance of Praying in Other Tongues
Part 9 – Eliminate Biases and Selfishness in our Praying
For this illustration, you will need a cookie sheet, hammer, chisel, Pam Non-stick Cooking Spray, and Bible
This is really going to sound spiritual … I want to tell about baking chocolate chip cookies. I’ll skip past putting the ingredients together and start with the actual baking. What is your first step? Is it rolling the cookie dough into little bitty balls, putting the balls onto the cookie sheet about an inch apart from each other, and then sticking the cookie sheet into the oven? (Allow for a response.) If this is the way that you bake cookies, let me show you two more things that you will need for your baking. (Show the hammer and chisel.) I can guarantee that you will pull the baked cookies out of the oven and discover that they are so attached to the cookie sheet that you will need the hammer to bang on the chisel to force the cookies off of the cookie sheet. (Demonstrate using the hammer and chisel on the cookie sheet.) The end result won’t be what you wanted. The crumbled, broken cookies will be so disappointing.
What is missing in your baking process? All of you bakers are one step ahead of me. It’s quite simple. You forgot to coat the cookie sheet with Pam Non-stick Cooking Spray. (Show Pam and demonstrate spraying on the cookie sheet). Skip this step … chisel cookies. Use the Pam … beautiful, delicious cookies.
I know. Baking chocolate chip cookies isn’t spiritual, or, is it? Believe it or not, the baking process will show one of the of the most important reasons why I pray in other tongues. Ready for this?
Here is a reality. When we are talking to God about a particular situation or person, it is so easy to allow our brain to “stick” opinions, biases, and even selfish ideas to our prayers. And, once these perceived “facts” are attached to our prayers, it is difficult (use the hammer and chisel) to pray prayers that get results.
Fortunately, we find in Romans 8:26-27 (show Bible) a way to pray prayers that say EXACTLY what God wants to hear. We need to pray spiritual Pam-coated prayers … praying in other tongues. This 100% Holy Spirit-enabled prayer language articulates what the Holy Spirit is saying through our spirit to our Father. Did you get that? Through our spirit. Our mind with all of it’s attached opinions, biases, and even selfish ideas is totally uninvolved in what is being communicated to God. Off-base, incorrect thoughts can’t stick to our Pam-coated prayers. Praying in other tongues will always produce the desired results … God will step into the situation and do what only He can do!
