Tongues
Let me share ten reasons why every believer should speak in tongues.
- It is the Initial Evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
In seeking to understand tongues we must start by looking at the Day of Pentecost:
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Acts 2: 4
Jesus had commanded His disciples to wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. They had a certain degree of understanding of what to expect, but when He came, He changed everything. We see that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. How do we know they were filled? As we will see, the evidence initially was speaking in tongues. So, as Spirit-filled believers, we should also expect to speak in other tongues.
In the Book of Acts, we see additional accounts of people receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter ten, we see the account of Cornelius’ house being converted and then receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. How did Peter and his team know they had received the Baptism:
“For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.”
Acts 10: 46
- Spiritual Edification
Next, tongues are for our spiritual edification. Paul explained:
“He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.”
1 Corinthians 14: 4
Paul revealed that when someone flows in a prophetic gift, the result must be the edification or building up of the Body. But, when someone speaks in tongues, they edify themselves. We must separate the gift of tongues and speaking in tongues. The gift of tongues is where the Lord God speaks through a human vessel a word for His people and requires interpretation. Speaking in tongues is where a human vessel is speaking a mystery to the Lord God, and it doesn’t require interpretation.
When we pray in our spiritual language, or we are praying in tongues, or as it might be described as praying in the Spirit. When we pray in tongues, we edify ourselves. Now, in the original Greek, the word used for edifying could be better translated as “charge.” Here, we have the image of charging our spiritual batteries.
“For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the Spirit, he speaks mysteries.”
I Corinthians 14: 2
As you can see, tongues are a spiritual language that is understood by the Lord and Him only. So, the enemy does not understand tongues, which makes it a powerful prayer language.
“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.”
1 Corinthians 14: 14
Here, we discover that when we pray in tongues, it is our spirit that is praying. Remember, God is a Spirit, so if we are to worship, we are to worship in Spirit, so speaking in tongues is a powerful way of fellowshipping with the Lord God. A better understanding of praying in tongues is our spirit praying by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
We must also remember:
“And these signs will follow those who believe: In My Name they shall cast out demons; they will speak with tongues.”
Mark 16: 17
Jesus explained that tongues were for all believers.
- Tongues Remind us of the Spirit’s Indwelling Presence.
“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
We know that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and it is a continual experience for the rest of our lives. Tongues are meant to be a continuous stream flowing from our spirit that should never dry up. So, as we pray and worship in the Spirit, it helps us become more conscious of His indwelling Presence. It becomes a tool to confirm our ongoing relationship and fellowship with Him.
- Praying His Perfect Will
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8: 26, 27
All too often, when we are in difficult situations, and we don’t know what to pray, or we are concerned about praying for the wrong thing or the wrong way. We also may want to make sure that as we pray, we don’t allow selfishness or anything of us to impact our praying. The closer we draw to the Lord, the more we desire to stay in His perfect will and that we are praying for His perfect will.
When we pray in tongues, the Holy Spirit prays through our spirit. That is, the Holy Spirit gives utterance to the perfect will of God into our spirit, and our spirit speaks it out. He gives us the utterance, and we do the talking.
Praying in the Spirit is when we allow the Holy Spirit to direct our praying by imparting the perfect will of the Father into our spirit. He then leads us into the correct type of prayer to pray, including praying in tongues.
- Praying in Tongues Builds Our Faith
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.”
Jude 20
Praying in tongues and praying under the leadership of the Holy Spirit stimulates our faith. When we pray in tongues, the Holy Spirit supernaturally imparts the words we should speak. When we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in our prayer, He brings us to a place of prayer with clarity and authority.
The Holy Spirit lifts us from praying in the natural realm to praying in the Spiritual realm. Everything starts in the spiritual, and if we are to see true change, it must come from the Spirit. The Holy Spirit knows the heart and thoughts of the Father, and He draws from the Father’s perfect will and impregnates us with the perfect prayer. He shows us the Father’s will and desire so that we see His promise and know He watches over His Word to perform it.
We know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word. As we pray in the Spirit, our ears become more in tune with His voice so we hear His Word effectively and accurately.
- Speaking in Tongues is a Holy Communication
“But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.”
1 Corinthians 14: 28
Praying in tongues is a powerful form of fellowship that is pure and uncontaminated. It is a holy communication with no taste of the natural but remains purely spiritual. When we pray, it helps us pray with a holy language.
- Tongues Help Us Pray for the Unknown
As believers, we are called to pray for others. Now, we may not know who we are praying for or what we are praying for. So we are in weakness, and it is in this place of human weakness that the Holy Spirit is able to make intercession through us. We are called to love which means laying down our lives for the brethren and a powerful way of doing this and expressing this love is through intercession. Praying in the Spirit enables us to pray beyond the limitations of the earthen vessel.
- Praying in Tongues Refreshes Our Spirit
“For with stammering lips with another tongue He speak to this people, to whom He said, ‘This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest.’ And, ‘This is the refreshing.’”
Isaiah 28: 11-12
Here, we see the Lord declaring that we receive a rest and a refreshing through tongues. So, as we speak or sing in tongues and pour out to the Lord God, He refreshes our spirit in return.
- Tongues for Giving Thanks
“What is the conclusion then? I will also pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say ‘Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say.”
1 Corinthians 14: 15-17
Tongues provide the perfect way to give thanks, but if I give thanks for my food this way, no one will know what I am saying. There, they are not edified.
- Tongues Bring the Tongue into Subjection
“But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”
James 3: 8
James explains the power of the tongue to both bless and curse; the problem is we use the same tongue, that is, to worship the Holy Lord with holy words, and then with the same tongue curse. Therefore, our tongue is contaminated. Thus, you can understand Isaiah when he had a Secret Place encounter, said, “I am a man of unclean lips.” Isaiah felt the conviction of the HOLY Spirit as he recognized that as pure and holy as he sought to walk, his tongue was contaminated.
So, how are we to overcome this contamination? Yielding our tongue to the Holy Spirit through praying and singing in tongues.
