Building Up Our Spirit With Spiritual Songs

February 21, 2025 by M. Stephanie Zeller

“And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music from your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another
in the fear of Christ.” (Ephesians 5:18-20, HCSB)

Expressing our hearts in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs is one of the ways that we are able to build up our spirit. A heart full of love and gratitude longs to express itself and often the spoken word in our native tongue is inadequate to express the joy that we are experiencing. For the believer, this joy is one of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit that we receive when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us at the time of salvation. When we speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, we are yielding to the Holy Spirit within us and flooding our soul with His joy.

The language we use to express our emotions can either enhance or diminish our level of joy. To give a natural illustration, I still remember a time in my youth sitting in the backyard with my mother as the two of us looked at our pecan tree. It was a majestic tree and was lit up by spotlights. My mother who was bilingual turned to me and commented that she preferred to think in Spanish when she looked at the tree because Spanish was a more expressive language than English. It allowed her to think with adjectives that were not available to her in English. It was then that I realized for the first time that the language we employ has a profound effect on what we are able to think and feel.

In the example with my mother, the selection of one natural language over another had a significant impact on her ability to appreciate the beauty of a magnificent tree. How much more so is the impact of deciding to use spiritual language over natural language. To give a personal example, I have always loved the art of Winslow Homer and one year an exhibit of his art work visited the art museum of the city where I lived. About one week prior I had prayed in a church service to receive a greater fullness of the Holy Spirit and the grace of speaking in tongues, but I did not experience a flow of spiritual language. However, as I toured the exhibition hall filled with the paintings of Winslow Homer, my heart was so full of joy, that the prayer language of tongues spontaneously flowed out of me. My mind did not interpret the words I was praying nor did it need to. I knew in my own spirit that I was expressing in spiritual language the joy I was experiencing in my heart.

Praying and singing in tongues is scriptural and is a grace available to all believers. It is a way to pray from the heart and express our love and gratitude to God. The Apostle Paul, in a letter to the Corinthian church, wrote: “ For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 14:2, ESV) Praying and singing in tongues was an important component of Apostle Paul’s personal devotional life. In a church setting, Paul emphasized the importance of praying with understanding and/or coupling the use of tongues with interpretation and proper order. He recognized the valid role of both types of prayer and praise. “What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.” (1 Corinthians 14:15, ESV)

All believers can rejoice that the Holy Spirit dwells within our human spirit. The names given to Him in scripture reveal some of His glorious attributes. He is our Helper, our Comforter, and our Teacher (John 14:26). Jesus encouraged His followers with these words: “But, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (John 14:26, NKJV)

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth: “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17, NKJV) The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin (John 16:8-11, NKJV). He also empowers us to abound in joy and peace (Romans 15:13, NKJV). His presence is essential to our growth in spiritual maturity.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, we are being conformed into the image of Christ. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV) It is just as Jesus said, “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7, ESV)

The Helper lives within us. If we hold Him in proper esteem we will grow into the image of Christ with or without the nourishment of a spiritual prayer language. Many wonderful saints, not understanding that spiritual language was available to them, have yielded their hearts fully to the love of God and flowed in God’s love to others. Yes, we can have oil in our lamps (Matthew 25:1-10) without taking advantage of our spiritual language. Yet, how wonderful it is that we have been given the opportunity to talk to our Heavenly Father in a language He has created for us. When we pray in tongues, we can pray the questions we don’t know how to articulate in our minds. When we pray in tongues, we can pray for solutions we have yet to imagine. Prayer and praise in the Holy Spirit are a gift from God. Our wonderful Heavenly Father loves us very much and He has given us a spiritual language so that we can enjoy greater intimacy with Him.

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Where scripture translations neglect to capitalize pronoun references to God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit, we have taken the liberty to do so.