HOLY SPIRIT PRAYER COMES OUT FROM WITHIN

HOLY SPIRIT PRAYER COMES OUT FROM WITHIN

On my walk home from grade school, I would sing songs in a made-up language. Later in life, I realized this was singing in tongues. Often when children get born again, they exhibit the freedom to yield to the Holy Spirit by speaking or singing in their new God-given language. When people in the New Testament times got born again, they also were inspired to speak or sing in a different language than they normally spoke in. The Bible says speaking with tongues was an outward sign of something spiritual that had happened on the inside.  

There’s been a lot of misunderstanding about speaking in tongues. People think a spirit takes over, and it’s like in the movies where a person’s eyes roll back in their head, they get possessed, and then they speak in a different language and are totally unaware of it. But it’s just the opposite. The person speaking or praying in tongues is in complete control of their actions. The Spirit from within gives the words, but the person does the speaking. They can start or stop anytime, just like speaking in their native language.

In the Old Testament times, the Spirit of God was “on” a person. In Jesus’ time on earth, the Spirit of God was “with” them. Jesus told His disciples that after He went back to the Father in Heaven, they would have the Spirit of God “in” them. Then He told them how they could build up that seed of His Spirit within.

“And he [Jesus] said unto them, ‘Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues” (Mark 16:15-16).

Jesus told them they would speak in new tongues. Why would they need that? Well, Jerusalem and that part of the world wasn’t in a peaceful place, much like the world is not in a peaceful place now. The believers then, and now too, need to build up that Spirit in them as much as they can, to be able to be strong and powerful, peaceful, and trusting. We need to be spiritually sharp on the inside, to be able to handle the things happening on the outside.  

The devil is getting a lot bolder with his attacks, but we can get stronger spiritually by speaking in tongues. “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself” (1 Cor. 14:4). The Greek word for “edifieth” means “to be a house-builder, build up, embolden.” 

Praying in tongues also builds up our faith. “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 1:20). We want to have big faith when it comes to caring for ourselves, our families, our friends, our neighborhoods, our world. Bigger faith action is needed, and speaking with tongues helps facilitate that.

.

There are going to be problems with people and circumstances where we’ll want to see solutions, but we don’t really know what we should pray for. Romans 8:26-27 tells us: “The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

The Greek translation reads: “The Holy Spirit maketh intercession for us in groanings that cannot be uttered in articulate speech.” Articulate speech refers to our known languages. We just don’t know what God knows, but the Holy Spirit within us does. The Holy Spirit gives us the words in another language so that we can pray the perfect will of God for any person or any situation.

Children easily learn to speak in tongues, and in this instance, it’s great if we can let ourselves be more like children. Just ask the Lord to give you your spiritual language, then you breathe in, believe to receive your words, and start to speak them out. That’s how Jesus taught his disciples to speak with new tongues. Jesus told the disciples to breathe in, then speak out the words the Holy Spirit gives. They will be a different language than you already know, so don’t think it’s weird just because it sounds odd to you.

If you need more documentation, read the book of Acts and see how often it comes up. Regular people all over the book of Acts spoke in tongues.

The more you speak, the more comfortable you will be. Once you start speaking in tongues out loud, you can start speaking in tongues in your head, just like you would talk to yourself silently. This way, you can speak in tongues while you’re at work or the gym or just going about your regular daily routines, without people wondering about what the heck you’re doing.  

There are many other great benefits to speaking in tongues that you can read about in the book of Acts and the Epistles. And of course, as you do speak with tongues, you’ll experience yourself growing spiritually as well, in your daily life.

We can be better equipped as ambassadors for our Lord when we do what Jesus instructed: “They shall speak with new tongues.” He said: “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:39). So let’s let it flow.

Love, Carolyn