The Power of Praying in Tongues – Introduction

Like many born-again, the beginning of my spiritual walk was pretty exciting. I was lucky to have been filled with the Holy Spirit within a year of being saved. I spoke with tongues, hung with my Christian friends and did my best to pray. One thing that I did not have though, was knowledge of what to do next with the gift of the Holy Spirit that I had been given. It was not very long, however, before the disparity between the life that I had been told was available in Christ and the life that I was actually living became very apparent.

I have since discovered that the gift of praying in tongues is a foundational gift in the life of a believer. It is the first stepping to stone to growing up in the fullness of the life that Christ has given us. The minute we become born-again, God rewrites your destiny. He gives you a calling and a place in His Body. You become called to be an Apostle, Teacher, Evangelist, Prophet or Pastor. Or maybe He calls you to the ministry of Helps or Governments. He gives you a new future based on His will for you. He puts you into one or more of His operations and ministries.

1st Corinthians 12:28

And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that, miracles (Evangelists), then gifts of healings (Pastors), helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

However, no matter what your call is, you cannot walk right into it the day after you become born-again. This is one of the troubles with the Church today. People who have not been qualified by God are teaching, pastoring, “apostling,” and prophesying all of over the place and on television. We know them by their fruits and it is not a pretty sight.

So, how can a believer go from being a newborn Christian into the fullness of the image of the full-grown Son of God? The very first key is praying in tongues for personal edification.

There are different types of tongues. In the verse above, they are described as “diversities of tongues.” The Bible describes four different manifestations of the gift of tongues as follows:

1. Tongues for personal edification (1st Corinthians 14:4);
2. Tongues for interpretation (1st Corinthians 14:5);
3. Tongues of deep intercessional groanings (Romans 8:26);
4. Tongues as a sign to the unbeliever (1 Corinthians 14:22).

There are different rules that govern the different operations of tongues in the Body of Christ. Some are meant for use in the public assembly while others are meant for use in private prayer. Some types of tongues are available at the will of the believer and others are only available as the Spirit wills and administers the gift to you.

In tomorrow’s post, I will go into more detail into the different types of tongues and the use of each one and also into the rest of 1 Corinthians 12:28 – 30 to clear up the statement “Do all speak with tongues?”

Grace and Peace,

Sade

Category: Worship