Praying in the Spirit by your Spirit

Ten Reasons Why Every Believer Should Speak in Tongues

You must know that Speaking in tongue means Praying in the Spirit by your Spirit. Praying in tongue is an evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. It's a supernatural phenomena that entails a lot than our peanut Brain can decipher. But here we have Biblical Scriptures to give us the outskirt of what Praying in tongue is. Enjoy:

In First Corinthians 14:18, Paul says, "I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all." I want to go on record with Paul as saying, "I thank my God, I speak with tongues." It seems that all some Corinthians wanted to do was speak in tongues. If Paul spoke in tongues more than the Corinthians, he must have awakened speaking in tongues, gone to bed speaking in tongues, and spoken in tongues between meals. He certainly did a tremendous amount of speaking in tongues! I want to give you 10 reasons why every believer should speak in tongues:

*Reason 1*—*Tongues is the initial sign.* The Word of God teaches that when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we speak with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives utterance. It is the initial evidence or sign of the Holy Spirit's indwelling us. Acts 2:4 says, "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Howard Carter, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God of Great Britain for 19 years, was the founder of the oldest Pentecostal Bible school in the world. He said that we must not forget that speaking with other tongues is not only the initial evidence of the Holy Spirit's indwelling; it is a continual experience for the rest of one's life. For what purpose? To assist in the worship of God. Speaking in tongues is a flowing stream that never should dry up, for it will enrich a person's life spiritually. This agrees with Paul's saying that speaking in tongues will edify you.

*Reason 2*—*Tongues is for spiritual edification.* We find Paul, writing the Corinthian church, counseling them to continue their practice of speaking in tongues in their worship and prayer life. Paul stated in First Corinthians 14:4, "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself." Speaking or praying in tongues is a means of spiritual edification, or building up the believer spiritually. First Corinthians 14:2 says, "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." One translation of the New Testament says, "he speaks divine secrets." Paul is saying here that God has given the Church a supernatural means of communication with Himself. Praise the Lord! Paul stated in the 14th verse of this same chapter, "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful." Notice that he said, "My spirit prayeth." The Amplified Bible adds, "my spirit [by the Holy Spirit within me] prays." Jesus said, "God is a Spirit." You see, when you pray in tongues, your spirit prays. When you pray in tongues, your spirit is in direct contact with God, who is a Spirit, and you are talking to Him in a divine, supernatural language. Praise God! It is amazing how intelligent people can ask in the light of these Scriptures, "What is the value of speaking in tongues?" Many people have asked me this question, knowing all the time what the Scriptures teach.

Friend, there is a value in speaking in tongues—a great value. If a person cannot see this, something is wrong with his understanding. I don't mean that he should see it because he has spoken with tongues. As a Baptist minister, I began to see what the Word says before I ever spoke with tongues. If God says speaking in tongues is of value, it is of value. If God says it edifies, it does edify. If God says it is a supernatural means of communication with Himself, 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. One of these signs was, "They shall speak with new tongues" (Mark 16:17).
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. One of these signs was, "They shall speak with new tongues" (Mark 16:17).

*Reason 3*—*Tongues reminds us of the Spirit's indwelling presence* Speaking in tongues is a supernatural evidence of the Holy Spirit's indwelling. In Acts 10, the six Jewish brethren who accompanied Peter to Cornelius' home were astonished because the gift of the Holy Spirit also was poured out on the Gentiles. They thought it was only for the Jewish church. How did they know the Gentiles had received the gift of the Holy Spirit? Acts 10:46 says, "For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God." In other words, that was the supernatural or initial evidence of the Holy Spirit's indwelling. Continued practice of speaking and praying in tongues helps us be conscious of the Spirit's presence. If I am conscious of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit every day, it is certain to affect the way I live. Someone will say, "Well, I know a person who has been saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, and they lose their temper and say things they should not." I do, too. But I can say one thing: They have not prayed in tongues and been in fellowship with God that day. I know from my own experience how easy it is, when one is not conscious of His presence, to become aggravated and exasperated. But if you take time to fellowship with Him, speaking in tongues and praying, you can be conscious of His indwelling presence, and you will not do or say things you will regret later.

*Reason 4*—*Praying in tongues is praying in line with God's perfect will.* Praying in tongues eliminates selfishness from entering our prayers. If I pray out of my own thinking, my prayers may be unscriptural and selfish. Too frequently our prayers are like the old farmer's: "God bless me and my wife, my son John, his wife, us four, and no more." (We don't say it in just those words, but that is what it amounts to.) Paul said in Romans 8:26, "for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. " He did not say we did not know how to pray, because we do know how to pray. We pray to the Father in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is how to pray. But just because I know how to pray doesn't mean I know what to pray for. The verse in its entirety reads, "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. " P. C. Nelson, founder of the Southwestern Bible Institute, was a Greek scholar. He told his young ministers that the Greek literally reads, "The Holy Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered in articulate speech" (articulate speech is the ordinary kind of speech). He pointed out that the Greek bears out that this not only includes “groanings” in prayer, but also "other tongues."

That agrees with what Paul said in First Corinthians 14:14, “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.” People should be careful about making fun of speaking in tongues, because when a person prays in tongues, it is his spirit praying by the Holy Spirit who is within him. Thus, mockers actually are making fun of the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit within you gives you the utterance; you speak it out of your spirit. By that method, the Holy Spirit is helping you pray according to the will of God for things that should be prayed for.

The Holy Spirit does not groan or speak in tongues apart from you. Those groanings come up from inside you and escape your lips. The Holy Spirit is not going to do your praying for you. He is sent to dwell in you. He is a helper—an intercessor— but He does not intercede apart from you. He was sent to help you pray, but He is not responsible for your prayer life. The way He helps us pray is by those groanings that escape our lips. They come out of our spirit, born of the Holy Spirit. Thus, speaking in tongues is Spirit-directed prayer. It eliminates the possibility of selfish prayer. Many times when people's prayers are based on their own thoughts and desires, they will be given things that are actually not the will of God, and are not the best for them. You don't believe that? Then you don't believe the Bible. If God's people want things a certain way, even though it is not best for them and it is not God's will, He will permit it. I can prove it to you. God did not want Israel to have a king. He told them so, but they demanded a king, and He permitted them to have one. It was not His highest will for them; it was not His best for them.

Once I prayed in the spirit for about two and a half hours with one fist placed on top of the other. There seemed to be a pull that would tip my hands to one side. With all my strength, I tried to straighten up my fists, but invariably they would be pulled over to one side again. This happened three times. Then the Spirit of God said to me, "People by their wrong praying pull things out of focus." ("For we know not what we should pray for as we ought.. . . ") By their own praying, by their own thinking, and out of their own mind, they pull things out of focus. This, then, gets God's plan out of focus many times, and His perfect will cannot be wrought. When I understood that, it was a revelation. I had known it before in a measure, but I had never seen the necessity of praying in tongues as I did then. One thing you can be sure of:
When you are praying in tongues, you can keep everything in focus, because you are praying according to the will of God and in the best interests of all involved.

*Reason 5*—*Praying in tongues stimulates faith.* Speaking in tongues helps me to learn to trust God more fully. It helps my faith to speak in tongues. No, it will not give me faith; it helps my faith. Jude 20 says, "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.. .." There is conclusive proof. Praying in tongues helps and stimulates my faith. Because the Holy Spirit supernaturally directs the words I speak in tongues, faith must be exercised to speak them, for I do not know what the next word will be. I trust God for it. And trusting God in one area will help me trust God in another area. As a young Baptist minister, I pastored the only church in the community, so it actually was a community church. People from all denominations came. I stayed in the home of a dear Methodist couple. The wife had an ulcerated stomach, and doctors felt her condition surely would turn into cancer. I knew God could and would heal her, but somehow I never was able to lift her faith up to that point. She ate only a little baby food and milk, and she never could seem to keep that on her stomach. One day a wonderful thing happened: She received the infilling of the Holy Spirit! I came in and found her enjoying foods she had never been able to eat during her long illness. I have seen many people who have had this type of experience. What is the connection? We know that being baptized in the Holy Spirit does not heal you, but speaking with tongues will help you learn to trust God more fully. When you speak in tongues, it helps you believe God for other things; it stimulates your faith.

*Reason 6*: *Praying in tongues is a means of keeping free from worldly contamination.*
Speaking in tongues is a means of keeping you free from contamination from ungodly, profane, and vulgar talk around you. You can speak in tongues quietly to yourself. Regardless of where you may be, you can do as First Corinthians 14:28 says, "But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God." If you can do that in the church, you can do it on the job. You will not disturb anybody. I have prayed in tongues quietly to myself many times in a barber shop or elsewhere downtown where I heard things that do not help one's spiritual life. No matter where you are, you can speak to yourself and to God. This will keep you from becoming con-taminated with the things of the world.

*Reason 7*: *Praying in tongues enables us to pray for the unknown*. Speaking in tongues provides a way for situations to be prayed for that no one knows about or thinks about. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, knows everything. The Word of God says, "But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered''' in articulate speech. Included in that is speaking in tongues.
Two young Assemblies of God missionaries left their native England for Africa. Several years later, while one was home on furlough, a young woman asked him if he had kept a diary. He replied that he had. About two years earlier, she recounted, she had been awakened during the night feeling an urgent need to pray. She had prayed in tongues for about an hour. Then she had a vision of a grass hut. She saw a young white man; the rest were natives. She saw him die. The natives covered him up, and went outside. Suddenly she saw him come out of the hut and stand in their midst.

All the natives began to rejoice. The young woman asked the missionary if he had ever had experience like that. He had. While his partner was in another territory, he had contracted a deadly fever. After comparing dates and making allowances for differences in time, the missionary and the young woman discovered that she had been praying for him in exactly the hour of his need. The Spirit of God had provided a way for things to be prayed for that needed to be prayed for, because the Holy Spirit knows everything. Another missionary to Africa whom I have heard on a number of occasions tells of a similar experience. He and a native worker hired a boat to take them to an island to preach.

On their return journey that night, a tropical storm suddenly came up. The vessel's owner told them if they stayed out, the boat would overturn and all would drown, yet if they sailed close to shore, they would hit the reefs. He asked the missionary what he wanted to do. The missionary replied, "It is your boat. What do you want to do? What do you think would be best?" The man answered that he would rather take a chance with the reefs. The missionary and the native worker had prayer and said, "All right, let's go." He related that as they neared the reefs, suddenly it felt as if the boat were lifted up and carried over the water. The missionary said that he, the native worker, and two or three sinners, including the owner, witnessed this miraculous event. God literally lifted the sailboat up over the reefs and into safe water. The following week, the missionary was visiting another mission station, and a woman missionary asked if he had been in trouble the previous Monday night about 10 o'clock. He asked why. She said she had gone to bed early that night, as she was planning to leave the following morning on a trip. But about 10 o'clock she was awakened with such a burden to pray that all she could do was pray in tongues and groan in the Spirit. She said, "I did not know what it was, but I seemed to have the impression that you were in trouble, and I just had to pray for you." He told her what had been happening to him at exactly the same time she had been praying for him. Praise God! The Spirit knows.

*Reason 8*: *Praying in tongues gives spiritual refreshing*. Isaiah 28:11,12 says, "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." What is the rest? What is the refreshing? Speaking with other tongues, God's Word says. "This is the rest where with ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing...." Sometimes the doctor says you need a rest cure. Well, I'll tell you the best one in the world: praying in other tongues. You can take this rest cure every day, praise God! In these days of turmoil, insecurity, and perplexity, we need this rest and refreshing—and it comes by speaking with other tongues.

*Reason 9*: *By praying in tongues, you give thanks perfectly*.
1 CORINTHIANS 14:15-17
15 *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.*
 16  *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?*
17  *For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.*
 Suppose you invite me to eat with you, and you say, "Tom, please give thanks." Paul said that people unlearned in spiritual matters would not be edified if I prayed in tongues, because they would not understand me. He said it would be better to pray with my understanding then; but if I did pray in tongues, I should interpret, so they would know what I had said. Notice, however, that Paul said speaking with tongues provides the most perfect way to pray and give thanks, because "thou verily givest thanks well."

*Reason 10*: *Speaking in tongues brings the tongue under subjection*. James 3:8 says, "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." Yielding your tongue to the Holy Spirit as you speak with other tongues is a long step toward fully yielding all of your body to God. If you can yield your tongue, you can yield any member of your body. That's what the Scriptures teach.