Okay. Finishing up this lesson, here’s some more reasons for speaking in tongues. Paul encouraged the Corinthian Christians to continue the practice of speaking with other tongues in their worship of God. He also encouraged them to speak in tongues in their individual prayer life as a means of spiritual edification, or building up. The Bible says, “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself . . .” (1 Corinthians 14:4).
Paul also stated in 1 Corinthians 14:14, “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, MY SPIRIT PRAYETH, but my understanding is unfruitful.” Notice he said, “My spirit prays.” The Amplified Bible reads, “My spirit [by the Holy Spirit within me] prays . . . .” God is a Spirit. When you pray in tongues, your spirit is in direct contact with God, who is a Spirit. When you speak in tongues, you are talking to Him by divine, supernatural means. Oh how the devil hates this.
Another reason people should speak with other tongues is that speaking with tongues keeps us continually aware of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling Presence. Not only is speaking with tongues the initial sign or evidence of the Holy Spirit’s infilling, but continuing to pray and to worship God in tongues helps us to be ever-conscious of His indwelling Presence. And if you are conscious of the indwelling Presence of the Holy Ghost every day, that is bound to affect the way you think and live.
Speaking in tongues eliminates the possibility of selfishness entering our prayer life. For instance, if I pray a prayer out of my own mind and out of my own thinking, it may be unscriptural. It may be selfish.
Paul wrote to the Church at Rome, “We know not what we should pray for as we ought. . .” (Romans 8:26). He didn’t say we didn’t know how to pray, because we are instructed to pray to the Father in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:23–24).
But just because I know how to pray doesn’t mean that I know what to pray for as I ought. So Paul said, “We know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself [Himself] maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26).
He is sent to help us pray. There are those times that He makes intercession for us as shown in Romans 8:26. He doesn’t pray for us, but helps us in those times when we just can’t find the words.
I like the way the Easy To Read version details this scripture. “Also, the Spirit helps us. We are very weak, but the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We don’t know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself speaks to God for us. He begs God for us, speaking to him with feelings too deep for words.” Did you notice that in those rare occasions when we are speechless, the Spirit speaks to God with feelings too deep for words. That’s what the groanings are.
Speaking with other tongues is praying as the Spirit gives utterance. It is Spirit-directed praying. And it eliminates the possibility of selfishness in our prayers. It is us doing the speaking and the Spirit giving the utterance. There are times when I know not what to pray so I will simply start praying in the Spirit or in tongues. Then there are the times when I can do neither and that’s when the Spirit takes over with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Speaking with tongues helps us learn to trust God more fully. It builds one’s faith to speak in tongues. The Bible says, “Building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost” (Jude 20).
Speaking in tongues stimulates faith and helps us learn how to trust God more fully. For example, faith must be exercised to speak with tongues because the Holy Spirit supernaturally directs the words we speak. You see, we don’t know what the next word will be—we have to trust God for that by fully yielding to the Spirit. And trusting God in one area helps us learn to trust Him in another area.
Every believer should speak in tongues because it provides a way for you to pray about things that you wouldn’t think to pray about or aren’t even aware of. We already know that the Holy Spirit helps us pray for particular situations when we don’t know how to pray about those situations. In addition, the Holy Spirit, Who knows everything, can pray things through us for things about which our natural mind knows nothing.
Finally, look at James 3:8. “But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison,” Yielding your tongue to the Holy Spirit to speak with other tongues is a big step toward being able to fully yield all of your members to God; for if you can yield your tongue, you can yield any member of your body to God.
Isn’t it curious, when looking at that verse in James 3:8, that God would choose the speaking of tongues to be the initial evidence of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Also, that God would put so much power in this gift as we’ve shown in the reasons above to speak in tongues. Yet the tongue is an unruly, evil, deadly poisonous creature that no man can tame. And still the tongue is what God selected.
God finishes everything. He chose the very people that caused the death of His Son as the ministers to proclaim the good news about His death. That’s you and me. Isaiah 14:13,14 records what Lucifer said. In those two verses you will see he says “I will” five different times. First it’s Lucifer’s will, not God’s will. Five separate I wills are recorded. God finishes this with five separate wounds on Jesus’ body on the cross. One in each hand. One in each foot and then the sword wound in the side. Just as a bonus here, the number for grace is the number five.
Now here God says that man cannot control his tongue, but if man will trust me and yield to the Holy Spirit, I will turn that tongue from a deadly destructive member to a powerful, prophetic, yielded member that speaks in the absolute will of God.
Speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. God has given us this wonderful spiritual gift to bless us, edify us, and refresh us throughout our lives on this earth. Let’s receive what God has provided and enjoy the benefits of speaking in tongues! Grace and Peace.
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