I was reading an earlier post today about someone receiving their prayer language, and I was reminded of how hard it can be to trust God in this area and of my own “awakening” in this regard when I was a youth.

In Jeremiah it says we will find Him when we seek Him with “our whole heart,” and I believe the same is true of that powerful connection we make with the Holy Spirit.

I prayed with a woman at the altar two Fridays ago to receive her prayer language, and she was so earnest to receive it but frustrated that it wasn’t happening. “I think I have a mental block,” she said. “Maybe my head is too much in the way.” I encouraged her to pray past that and to continue to seek God with a heart that pushes past the “intellect” and draws only on the “spirit.”

I remember going to several youth meetings and seeing people receive their prayer language at the altar. I would leave and go home feeling like somehow God wasn’t ready for me to have it or I was doing something wrong. I got into a quiet place in my room and just began to worship, refusing to think too hard about it or worry that it wasn’t happening.

I focused entirely on worship, praising and giving thanksgiving to God for all He had done for me, and saying over and over, “Whatever you want for me, Lord, I’m eager to receive it.”

It was during that personal time with God, not at an altar or with anyone praying over me, that the Holy Spirit fell on my heart and I opened my mouth to find a new language tumbling off my lips.

It was awkward and foreign to my ear, and my mind immediately wanted to rebel against the process, but I just pressed in and kept those utterances coming.

I looked up at the clock some time later to realize I had been praying in that language for nearly 2 hours! And I learned that it was something I had to begin to operate in daily so that I could overcome any discomfort or doubt I had about its origin or purpose. Just as we have to exercise discipline and practice over our formed prayers, we have to do the same with our prayer language until, like our own language, it flows from the spirit unhindered.

So, for those who may be struggling in this area, set your mind at ease and put your focus on worship and relationship first.

Remember, if we “seek first,” those things will be “added unto” us.