.
Speaking In Tongues
Ten Reasons Why Every Believer Should Speak In Tongues
Written by Kenneth Hagin
"And these signs shall follow them that believe...they
shall speak with new tongues" (Mark 16:17).
The apostle Paul wrote much about the subject of speaking
in other tongues. He apparently practiced what he preached for he said, "I thank my God, I speak with
tongues more than ye all" (1
Corinthians 14:18).
I too, thank God
that I speak in tongues with regularity, and would wish for every believer this
same blessing and source of power in his everyday life.
The purpose of this
article is to set forth major reasons why every Christian should speak in
tongues, and to help believers see the blessings that can be theirs through
appropriating the power of the Holy Spirit daily.
Reason 1 - Tongues the
Initial Sign
"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4).
The Word of God
teaches that when we are filled with the Holy Ghost, we speak with other
tongues as the Spirit of God gives utterance.
It is the initial
evidence or sign of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, the first
reason people should speak with other tongues is - this is a supernatural
evidence of the Spirit's indwelling.
In the tenth chapter
of Acts we read where the Jewish brethren who came with Peter to Cornelius'
house were astonished when they saw that the gift of the Holy Ghost was poured
out on the Gentiles.
They thought it was
just for the Jews.
How did these Jews know that Cornelius' household had
received the gift of the Holy Ghost? "For they heard them speak with tongues,
and magnify God" (Acts 10:46).
Speaking in tongues
was the supernatural sign which convinced them the Gentiles had the same gift
as they.
Reason 2 - Tongues For
Spiritual Edification
"He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth
himself" (1
Corinthians 14:4).
In writing to the
church at Corinth, Paul encouraged them to continue the practice of speaking
with other tongues in their worship of God and in their prayer lives as a means
of spiritual edification.
Greek language scholars tell us that we have a word in our
modern vernacular that is closer to the meaning of the original than the word "edified."
Therefore we could paraphrase this verse, "He
that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifies, charges, and builds himself up like
a battery."
And this wonderful,
supernatural means of spiritual edification - notice that it is neither mental
nor physical edification - is for every one of God's children.
"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" (1 Corinthians 14:2).
Weymouth's translation of this verse says, "He speaks divine secrets."
God has given to the
church a divine, supernatural means of communication with Himself.
"For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit
prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful" (1 Corinthians 14:14).
Notice that this says, "my spirit prayeth."
The Amplified translation reads, "… my spirit, by the Holy Spirit
within me, prays."
God is a Spirit.
When we pray in tongues, our spirit is in direct contact with God, who is a
Spirit. We are talking to Him by a divine, supernatural means.
It is amazing how people can ask in the light of these
scriptures, "What is the value of speaking in tongues?"
If God's Word says
speaking in tongues is of value - then it is of
value.
If God says it edifies - then it
edifies.
If God says it is a
supernatural means of communication with Himself - then it is a supernatural
means of communication with Himself.
If God says every
believer should speak in tongues - then every believer should speak in tongues.
Jesus did not say that just a few should speak in tongues. He said, "And these signs shall follow them
that believe...."
"Them" is plural - it means all. And one of the signs was,"...they shall speak with new
tongues..." (Mark 16:17).
Reason 3 - Tongues Remind us
of The Spirit's Indwelling Presence
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you
another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of
truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth
him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" (John 14:16-17).
Howard Carter was
general supervisor of the Assemblies of God in Great Britain for many years,
and founder of the oldest Pentecostal Bible school in the world.
He pointed out that
we must not forget that speaking with other tongues is not only the initial
evidence of the Holy Spirit's infilling, but is a continual experience for the
rest of one's life.
For what purpose? To
assist us in the worship of God.
Speaking in tongues is
a flowing stream, which should never dry up, and will enrich the life
spiritually.
Continuing to pray
and worship God in tongues helps us to be ever conscious of His indwelling
presence.
If I can be
conscious of the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost every day, it is bound
to affect the way I live.
A minister's
12-year-old daughter once lost her temper and was talking rudely and hatefully
to her mother.
A visiting
evangelist overheard the scene. When the girl looked up and saw him, knowing he
had witnessed her tantrum, she was embarrassed and broke into tears.
"I'm so sorry
you saw me act this way and heard what I said," she cried.
"Honey," he said, "there is One greater than I am who saw you and heard you. You are
a Christian, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"And filled with the Spirit?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Well then, the
Holy Ghost is in you. He knows what you said, and how you acted. But if you
will repent, the Lord will forgive you."
They prayed
together. She repented and in a little while began to worship God in
tongues.
Then he said to her, "Here is a secret that will help you curb your temper. If you will
pray and worship God every day in tongues, it will help you to be conscious of
the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost. If you will remember that He is in
you, you won't act that way."
Some years later the evangelist returned to preach at that
church, and the pastor's daughter told him, "I have never forgotten what you said. Every day for the past few
years I have prayed and worshiped God in tongues -and I have never
lost my temper again."
Unfortunately, we all
know people who have been filled with the Holy Ghost, yet still lose their
temper and say and do things they shouldn't.
This is only because
they haven't been walking in the Spirit as they should.
It is so easy, when
we are not conscious of His presence, to become irritated and frustrated.
But if we will take
time to fellowship with Him, we can be ever conscious of His indwelling
presence.
Reason 4 - Praying in Tongues
is Praying in Line With God's Perfect Will
"Likewise 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" (Romans 8:26-27).
Speaking in tongues
keeps selfishness out of our prayers.
A prayer out of
one's own mind and thinking has the possibility of being unscriptural. It may
be selfish.
In the scripture
quoted above Paul didn't say we didn't know how to pray - for we do.
We pray to the
Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the correct way to pray.
But just because I
know how to pray doesn't mean I know what to pray for as I ought.
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."
P.C. Nelson, a scholar of the Greek, said that the Greek
literally reads here, "The
Holy Ghost maketh intercession for us in groanings that cannot be uttered in
articulate speech."
Articulate speech
means our regular kind of speech.
He went on to point
out how the Greek stresses that this not only includes groanings escaping our
lips in prayer, but also praying in other tongues.
This agrees with what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:14, "For if I pray in an unknown
tongue, my spirit prayeth...."
Or, as the Amplified translates, "My spirit (by the Holy Spirit within me)
prays."
When you pray in
tongues - it is your spirit praying, by the Holy Spirit within you.
The Holy Spirit within
you gives the utterance - and you speak it out of your spirit.
You do the talking. He
gives the utterance.
By this method the
Holy Spirit helps you pray according to the will of God, as things should be
prayed for.
This isn't something
the Holy Ghost does apart from us.
Those groanings come
from inside us and escape our lips.
The Holy Ghost isn't
going to do our praying for us. He is sent to dwell in us as a Helper and an
Intercessor.
He isn't responsible
for our prayer lives - He is sent to help us pray.
Praying with other
tongues is praying as the Spirit gives utterance.
It is Spirit-directed
praying. It eliminates the possibility of selfishness in our prayers.
Many times when
people have prayed out of their own minds, they received things that were
actually not the will of God and were not best.
If God's people
insist on having things a certain way, even if it isn't best for them, or is
not God's perfect will, He will often permit it.
God did not want
Israel to have a king, but they kept insisting that they wanted one.
So He permitted them
to have one. But it was not His perfect will.
Reason 5 - Praying in Tongues
Stimulates Faith
"But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most
holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost" (Jude 20).
Praying in tongues
stimulates faith and helps us learn to trust God more fully.
If the Holy Spirit
supernaturally directs the words I speak, faith must be exercised to speak with
tongues.
For I don't know what
the next word will be - I am trusting God for it.
And trusting God in
one line will help me to trust Him in another.
We know that
receiving the Baptism of the Holy Ghost does not heal us.
However, speaking
with tongues helps us to learn how to trust God more fully.
Speaking in tongues helps us to believe
God for other things because it stimulates our faith.
Reason 6 - Speaking in Tongues -
A Means of Keeping Free From Worldly Contamination
A Means of Keeping Free From Worldly Contamination
"But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence
in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God" (1 Corinthians 14:28).
The sixth reason every
Christian should speak in tongues is that this is a means of keeping free from
the contamination of the ungodly and the profane, and all the vulgar talk
around us on the job or out in public.
Notice from the scripture above that we can speak with
tongues to ourselves. Paul said that in the church service, "If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by
two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one
interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the
church; and let him speak to himself, and to God" (1 Corinthians 14:27-28).
If we can speak to
ourselves and to God in a church service, we can also do it on the job. It
won't disturb anyone.
In the barber shop,
for instance, when men tell risque jokes, I just sit there and speak to myself
and to God in tongues.
Riding the train,
bus, or airplane - we can speak to ourselves and to God.
On the job - we can
speak to ourselves and to God.
Talking in tongues
to yourself and to God will be a means of keeping free from
contamination.
Reason 7 - Praying in Tongues
Enables Us to Pray For the Unknown
Praying in tongues
provides a way to pray for things for which no one thinks to pray, or is even
aware.
We already know that
the Holy Spirit helps us to pray for what we know not
how to pray as we ought.
But in addition, the
Holy Spirit - who knows everything - can pray through us for things about which
our natural minds know nothing.
An English
missionary to Africa was home on furlough speaking at a missionary conference
when a woman asked him if he kept a diary.
He replied that he did. And she began to relate to
him, "Two years ago I was
awakened in the night with a burden to pray. I got out of bed and was talking
in tongues before I got down on my knees. For an hour I prayed in tongues
- and it seemed as if I were wrestling. When I finished praying I had a vision.
I saw you in a little grass hut, surrounded by natives. You were sick. Then you
died. I saw the natives pull the sheet over your head and walk sadly outside
the hut. Suddenly you came out of the hut and stood in their midst, and all the
natives rejoiced."
The missionary then
asked her if she kept a diary and requested she bring it that afternoon.
Comparing diaries,
and making allowances for time differences in England and Africa, they
discovered the time of the woman's prayer burden exactly coincided with the
time when the missionary was sick with a deadly fever.
His partner was
away, and he was alone with the natives.
Things happened just
as she saw them - the missionary died, the natives saw him die and pulled a
sheet over his head - then he rose up suddenly well! Because of the Spirit of
God!
Praying in the
spirit provides a way for things to be prayed for that we wouldn't know
anything about in the natural.
The Holy Ghost,
however, knows everything.
Reason 8 - Praying in Tongues
Gives Spiritual Refreshing
"For with stammering lips and another tongue will he
speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest where with ye may cause
the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not
hear" (Isaiah 28:11-12).
What is the rest, the
refreshing, the above scripture refers to? Speaking in other tongues!
Sometimes the doctor
recommends a rest cure, but I know the best one in the world.
Often when you take a
vacation, you have to come home and rest before going back to work.
But isn't it wonderful that we can take this "rest
cure" every day? "This is the rest ... this is
the refreshing ...."
We need this
spiritual refreshing in these days of turmoil, perplexity, and anxiety.
Reason 9 - Tongues For Giving
Thanks
"What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I
will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will
sing with the understanding also. Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit,
how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of
thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? For thou verily givest
thanks well, but the other is not edified" (1 Corinthians 14:15-17).
When Paul said, "He that occupieth the room of the unlearned..." in verse 16, he was referring to
those who are unlearned in spiritual things.
If you invited me to dinner and said, "Please give thanks;"and if I
prayed in tongues you wouldn't know what I said.
You wouldn't be
edified. Therefore, Paul said it would be better to pray with my understanding
there.
If I did pray in
tongues, I should interpret it so you would know what was said.
But notice that Paul says praying in tongues provides the
most perfect way to pray and to give thanks, for he said, "Thou givest thanks well" (verse 17).
In the presence of
people who are unlearned, however, Paul said to pray with your understanding
also so that they can be edified; they will understand what you say.
Reason 10 - Speaking in
Tongues Brings the Tongue Under Subjection
"But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil,
full of deadly poison" (James 3:8).
Yielding the tongue to
the Holy Spirit to speak with other tongues is a giant step toward fully
yielding all of our members to God.
For if we can yield
this most unruly member, we can yield any member.
The Public Side of Tongues
In conclusion I want to point out that, while we have dealt
primarily with tongues in the individual believer's private life, it is also
true there is a public side to tongues.
First, when people receive the Holy Ghost publicly
they speak with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance.
Secondly, the church is edified by speaking with
other tongues in public assembly with interpretation.
Paul plainly stated that to prophesy is to speak unto
men "to
edification, and exhortation, and comfort" (1 Corinthians 14:3).
But he said, "Greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh
with tongues, except he interpret" (1 Corinthians
14:5).
Paul is saying that
tongues with interpretation is equivalent to prophecy - i.e., if the utterance
in tongues is interpreted so that the church can understand what is said, then
the one prophesying is not greater.
To illustrate, two
nickels equal one dime. However, the two nickels are not a 10-cent piece.
Prophecy is the
dime, the ten-cent piece. Naturally, it would be better to have the dime
(prophecy) than to have the nickel (at utterance in tongues).
But, if
interpretation (another nickel) went along with it, then the two would be
equivalent to the dime.
Let me say here that
prophesying is not preaching. If prophesying were preaching, then you wouldn't
have to make any preparation to preach.
But you have to study and prepare to preach. Paul
said, "Study to
shew thyself approved unto God..." (2 Timothy
2:15).
You don't have to
study to speak with tongues, or to interpret.
You don't have to
study to prophesy.
These come by
inspiration of the Spirit.
Of course, when one
is preaching under the inspiration of the Spirit, and suddenly he says things
he never thought of, that is inspiration and is an element of prophecy.
Tongues with
interpretation edifies the church.
When used in line with the Word of God, speaking with
tongues with interpretation convinces the unbeliever of the reality of the
presence of God, and often causes him to turn to God and be saved.
Jesus said, "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my
name shall they cast out devils" (Mark 16:17).
That can be private or public. "They shall lay hands on the sick,
and they shall recover" (verse 18).
That can be private
or public.
Another sign is, "They shall speak with new tongues" (verse 17).
This too, is both
private and public.
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| Add caption |
It is all right to
pray in the altar service as long as you want, for you go there to be
edified.
If people in the
service are lifting their hands and praying, it is all right to pray in
tongues.
I stand on the
platform and pray that way every night. But when the congregation ceases
praying, I cease praying. The congregation wouldn't be edified if I went on and
on.
We do need to know
how to use what we have to the greatest advantage.
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Spirit Of The Living God
Daniel Iverson
lyrics
Fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God,
Fall afresh on me.
Break me, melt me,
Mold me, fill me,
Spirit of the living God,
Fall afresh on me.
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