What is your take on praying in the Spirit in a tongue unknown to man? “For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.” (1Cor. 14:2) Do you see this scripture talking of a known language but unknown to the person or congregation, or a tongue known only to the Spirit of God?
The Word also refers to this tongue unknown to man but only known to the Spirit. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Rom 8:26) What do you believe is meant by this?
You’re obviously trying to make a case for the prayer language, but you can’t use these verses to do it. In 1 Cor 14 Paul also told believers to pray for an interpretation to their message in tongues because without it the message is unfruitful (1 Cor. 14:13-14). That means his statement in verse 2 referred to a language unknown to those present, but subject to translation into a language they could understand.
And based on all that Paul said about tongues in 1 Cor 12 – 14 there’s no reason to believe he was saying something different in Romans. Besides, to believe that Romans 8:26 is speaking about a prayer language means that countless numbers of believers who don’t have one can not expect intercession by the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t make sense. The Holy Spirit does not need to use the believer to pray in an unknown language to get a message to God. They are one and the same. The phrase “groanings too deep for words” literally means “a groan or sigh that cannot be expressed in words”. That means words of any language. It’s a communication of emotion.