WHY SPEAK IN TONGUES?

I was sharing the Word with a friend Saturdays ago as I jumped from Cherubs to the Word as our nature to the real meaning of eternal life to ‘does God choose our spouses?’ to intimacy with God. There was no doubt a lot of revelation was being dispensed, and not only was Alex amazed. I too was! When I got a breather, I looked to the side and wondered where all that was coming from!

Alex was inspired. I’d see it deeply in his eyes. Deep down, I felt the conviction to ask him if he prayed in tongues. I might have said it once before, but let me re-echo it. I owe all this dispensing of revelation to the gift of praying in other tongues majorly. Paul mentions that tongues equate to speaking mysteries; as one speaks to God. (1 Cor 14:2)

This is the first reason why you should desire the gift, or, (if you have it) utilize it to the most. These mysteries could translate into many things. It could be revelational insight, discoveries (both scientifically and doctrinally), solutions for salvation, extraordinary ideas, etc. I also believe the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the mysteries underlying many scriptures we previously brushed over. Here, He teaches us all things. (John 14:26)

The second reason is: Tongues are a strategy for language barrier towards the devil. He’s had thousands of years to learn all divers earthly languages; but this … it is a language that changes every time you speak. If ‘raba’ meant ‘help’ the last time you spoke it, it could mean something different when you next do. The language is 1s and 0s to the enemy —Morse code of some sort! The alphabet and numericals keep getting reinvented every time you speak. That’s too laborious for anyone to learn.

If A meant A last time, the next time you speak, it will be pronounced ‘Alpha’. The next time, it will be ‘Aleph.’ The next time you speak, it will be ‘One’… and so on and so forth. It’s a complex strategy. And just like we all feel when we are near someone or a clique that is speaking something we do not understand, the enemy feels uncomfortable, and moves away. Or, to hinder you from further plotting, he will distract you as you pray: cause a notification to come up on your phone, and slowly you’ll slip out of the conver trail.

The third reason why I advocate for Tongues, is the mainest. When you pray in the Spirit, you pray in the perfect will of God. The fissure in praying only in our vernacular is, he can intercept it and manipulate it according to the degree of our desperation. If you pray for a Benz — one of my pastors gave this example; he can play about and get a friend to give you a car of a lower brand you did not prefer.

It’s easy to think, Oh, perhaps this is what God wants me to have… You then settle for less, and forget when He vowed that if He gave Jesus up (His only son) for you there’s nothing else He wouldn’t be willing to give!

Romans 8:26–27 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 hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Here’s scriptural evidence that the Spirit prays for us in accordance to God’s will. So you can’t pray amiss! If you intend to pray for marriage, you’d be praying for your transformation — into a man worthy of that covenant or a woman of great price, as opposed to merely escaping the shame the world labels unmarrieds or the pressure of rushing into it just to tick off a box.

The Spirit could as well be reinforcing strength and perseverance for those who’d be called to celibacy, or for those whose union might take a little longer than others’.

Many of us do not even know God’s will. We have no knowledge of the times and seasons of our lives: where we must be and where not! This gift positions you to understand your times and know what to do when and where (1 Chron 12:32). Remember you might not understand what you are saying (like the devil) but having the Spirit in you, He leads you or decodes what He is saying in your Spirit, translating the Morse code and transferring the signals to your soul in form of imagery or thoughts.

In so doing, you’ll find yourself in answered prayers you don’t recall vocalizing. Tongues get rid of emotions. They are beyond that plane. A girl might be asking God for this particular young man. Like God told Samuel, He’d know his heart is not the best companion for His daughter. And so, as her soul is longing, her Spirit could be rejecting (like Samuel rejected the good-looking brothers of David)

Romans 12 mentions the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I remember my pastor mentioning that it could be good but not acceptable or perfect to God. He also said it could be acceptable but not good or perfect. We must therefore strive to the three-fold place: good, acceptable and perfect. I doubt it can be perfect and yet not acceptable nor good. By the time perfection is achieved, the other two are already thrown in!

An example of this is Jesus in Gethsemane. It didn’t look good at the moment when He was sweating blood … but in hindsight, it was God’s perfect will. After a little suffering, glory was the procession that reintroduced Him, and after His being lifted, He drew many unto Himself. When one prays in the Spirit, they edify themselves. (Jude 1:20) ‘Edify’ means ‘building up’, or ‘strengthening’. These are two in one; the fourth and fifth advantages. When God’s perfect will becomes unbearable, the tongues create capacity for you to face the danger. When the cup of suffering isn’t taken away, praying in the Spirit strengthens you to lift it up to drink of every bitter herb, and not finding an alternative route or way out.

I daresay that ‘building up’ and ‘strengthening’ are somewhat different. Steel bars strengthen concrete columns, but they could necessarily be built up without the steel. Question is, how much weight can that column take and how high can it stand without support. Concrete has high compression strength, but, it has low tensile strength. Meaning, if it is to be pulled apart, it can easily tear. Imagine you were concrete, yes you’d be compressed but not destroyed, but what if you were tied to horses and pulled apart? You’d be built up, but not strong.

Conversely, imagine rocks or aggregate, or cement or sand just lying on the ground. These are strong materials but when not built up, or shaped vertically in shells, they serve no greater purpose. The Bible calls you a city on a hill. Cities on hills can’t go unnoticed, but if you are just a bungalow, chances are, the trees and other buildings around you will keep you enshrouded, hiding your glory, your gifts, your ministry and impact from the world. Praying in the Spirit therefore combines the raw material of the word and builds you into that city. The more utility of them, the grander and stronger the city you are becomes. The more intensity of them, the higher you rise (above anything that was enshrouding you before) and the more fortified you’d be, standing any test. (Acts 20:32)

Romans 8:26 mentions that the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. You can see how the tongues STRENGTHEN you as counter measure. The Holy Spirit carries and bears you up in prayer. Our physical languages have limits, and honestly it is hard to pray for 2 or 3 hours or 6 hours. We’d run out even of what to say. But with the Tongues, it’s a faucet with an endless flow we choose to turn off, and not a drying up stream.

Now that these are in, I hope they inspire you to dwell in that gift the more. If your curiosity has been tickled, I’ll share in the next blog, how to receive this gift.