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Prayer Language
Even though I grew up with a minister like my dad, I had never heard anything about prayer language. I vaguely remember hearing someone pray in tongues at a different church but I just thought she was weird. I’ve attended Methodist, Baptist, Free Will Baptist, Anglican, and Non-denominational churches throughout my life, but the story was the same—no teaching on tongues. Then, when studying on my own, I just saw it as a “gift” and none of my friends seemed to have it, or discuss it. Oh, how could this amazing treasure be hidden?! It is so essential to my life now and I can’t keep quiet about it! Those of you that know me personally, know how much I love food. It would be like not knowing about coffee. WHY wouldn’t people tell me about it? Could you imagine people not talking about coffee but keeping it a secret and only a few people enjoying it? What a shame that would be!
Three years ago, a dear couple laid hands on me to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. My son, Joshua, was with me and he started speaking in tongues immediately. Me, not so much. I began to ask the Lord during my prayer time but nothing happened. Then one day, when I was down on my knees praying, I reminded the Lord that He is no respecter of persons and that I didn’t want to get back up without it. I moved my mouth a bit. I wanted it so badly. Then I started to babble differently sounds by faith, then it happened and I can’t imagine living without it now.
Why is it important?
God’s Word tells us that the Holy Spirit prays for us and that is exactly what is happening when we pray in tongues. We are human and we are always going to pray selfishly, that’s the way it is, we’re human. The Holy Spirit prays perfectly for us. We don’t know the future so sometimes we pray adamantly for something but we don’t realize what is down the road. The Holy Spirit knows everything. He knows how to pray best for us. We don’t know what we are praying when we pray in the Spirit but the Holy Spirit makes sense of it and takes it to the Father on our behalf. How beautiful!
There are many benefits to praying in tongues. The Bible says it edifies us which means it builds us up. It refreshes me but also builds my spiritual muscles.
Can everyone pray in tongues?
If you are a believer and you have asked for the Holy Spirit, then it is your right to have a prayer language. Luke 11:13 “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Why don’t some people speak in tongues after a person lays hands for them to receive the Holy Spirit? I have had this happen several times. I believe some people are self-conscious (like I was) or they believe a force is going to grab their tongue and start it. Now sometimes this does happen, where it just comes out but many times we have to work with it and begin by faith. Open your mouth and begin to make syllables and like everything in the kingdom, it operates by faith. Don’t overthink it. When you talk (in English) you use your brain and think about what you will speak. When you speak in tongues, it rises up from within you and comes from your Spirit. John 7:38 refers to this as “rivers of living water that flow from within.” There are several great videos on this that I would recommend by David Diga Hernandez, Vladimir Savchuk, and Isaiah Saldivar.
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