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First, you have to
understand that I was born and bred a staunch Southern Baptist. Son
of a pastor and missionaries. Got degrees in religion and psychology
from an SBC college. I understand how the brain can be used to mess
with you. I understand about mind control and subconscious
programming - AND I understand about witchcraft and demonic controls.
I'm a business man and a pragmatist. I'm just not the rolling around
on the floor kind of a guy. I just don't go in for theatrics. I want
NOTHING that isn't PURE Jesus.
But I've learned a
lot in the last couple of years as the Holy Spirit has taken me on
this wild adventure to unlearn layers and layers of stuff that I was
taught and relearn them the way He wanted. In the last year and
half, I've had the great priviledge to fellowship with more than
fifty different congregations of all different flavors. And I can
state unequivocally that they ALL see through a glass darkly! No
question about it. If they think they don't, it's because their
vision is blurred by the big pride plank in their eye. But they
all see through different PARTS of the glass darkly. That is, some
are clear about Sin and some aren't. Some are clear about Gifts and
some aren't. Some are clear about the Holy Spirit and some aren't.
Some are right on the substance, but not the application. Because the
Body of Christ is divided into 37,000+ denominations that aren't
talking to each other, we can't get a coherent picture of the
totality of Christ. Like putting together a puzzle without the
picture on the box.
What I do is
synthesize and congeal all the different stuff I've seen across the
whole of the Body of Christ to see if I can get an approximation of
the picture on the box.
As that relates to
tongues (and other manifestation gifts of the Spirit), here is my
take on this, for what it's worth.
First, the gifts
are not On/Off switches, they are dials. That's really
important because so many people think that you either speak in
tongues or you don't and if you don't then you haven't received the
Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Some even believe that you're not going
to heaven unless you speak in tongues. But I've met LOTS of people
that speak in tongues and hardly ANY of them received the Baptism of
Fire described in Luke 3:16. Hardly anybody is really walking
in holiness and sanctification. So they're not obeying and they
shouldn't be so comfy in their sense that because they speak in
tongues, they're FULL of the Holy Spirit and therefore safe. I know
some serious sinners that speak in tongues. It's a GIFT, that means
He'll probably let you keep it, even if you're a backslidden stinker.
People ask me if
I'm "Spirit-Filled". I ask them, "Do you mean that at
some point I had an experience with God and spoke in tongues or that
I'm so crammed full of the Holy Spirit all the time that nothing else
can fit? Cause it ain't the same thing." We're to "be
being filled". Not a one time thing. If you pray for JUST enough
Holy Spirit to speak in tongues, you just might get a little shot
glass full of the Holy Spirit. If you pray for Wisdom and
Sanctification and let God work the rest of the gifts out with you in
His time, you'll probably get a GREAT BIG cup of the Holy Spirit and
He'll teach you how to keep it full. And you'll probably get a whole
bunch of the gifts, not just tongues. If you don't have, it's because
you don't ask.
Anyway, back to
the issue at hand. I had to get an understanding about the difference
between a prophetic message given in tongues in front of the church
(which should be interpreted) and a personal "prayer
language" that you would use when you're alone. Some folks say
that tongues are for the edification of the Body, therefore should
never be done in private since there is no one there to interpret.
But Paul says when he prays in tongues he is edified personally, even
if nobody else is around. And since I need all the edifying I can
get, well then I might as well ask for all the gifts that will help!
Why does it edify
you to pray in tongues, even if you don't understand what you're
saying? It's really very simple - you see, the Holy Spirit is praying
FOR you. And He knows EXACTLY what you need. He's very efficient, so
a lot of praying can get done in a lot shorter amount of time. The
added benefit is that when the Spirit prays it's like an encrypted
transmission to the throne that the enemy can't intercept and mess
with. If you pray in English (or your native language) for peace or
strength or for a person that's on your heart, the enemy hears it and
will probably do what he can to dial up the pressure on those areas
so that your prayers don't get answered. And, when you pray in
tongues, the enemy really, really doesn't like being around it. You
can clear all the badness out of your house by just walking around it
and praying in the Spirit. Some people sing in tongues and the Spirit
writes the melody and gives them the words - and sometimes the
interpretation. It's really pretty when it's pure!
When the Spirit
prays, it may not be for a decision about your job or a new car - it
may be for a gifting or a call or for divine appointments or the
stranger on the bus or something you wouldn't even think to pray.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit doesn't even use words. Sometimes all that
can come out is groaning or crying or mournful screaming in pain.
Those are just some of the various flavors of how the Spirit can pray
through you.
It's like this. If
the Holy Spirit is in you - which He is from the moment you commit
your life to follow Jesus - then He can pray FOR you THROUGH you if
you'll just get out of the way. Although it wasn't until November 23,
2004 that I had a personal experience of the "Baptism with the
Spirit and with Fire" variety, I can think of many times over
the decades previous when I would be on my face praying and crying
with a huge burden on my heart and nothing but groans would come out.
In fact, nearly every Christian I've spoken with that really loves
Jesus, whether Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian or otherwise can
remember times after they got "saved" when they were
praying and something else seemed to just take over or help them
pray. Not that a language came out necessarily, but maybe just a deep
moan from the pit of their stomach but they knew it was God. In
know some people that pray in English, but it's not really them
praying anymore. Or some that just weep when they intercede for
others. I don't care what any charismatic says, that's
"tongues" and it counts. Which means you had it BEFORE
somebody laid hands on you to receive the "Baptism" - which
means it's NOT an On/Off switch, it's a DIAL and everybody that has
the Holy Spirit is automatically NOT on Zero.
After my
experience with God and the vision He gave me and the mission He
launched me into, because of the burden He put on me, that deep
groaning was all that I could get out when I was praying. Since then,
I've learned to recognize and get out of the way of all the other
"flavors" that the Holy Spirit might use to pray through me
- including a variety of languages of Man (with or without personal
interpretation), sometimes just tears, sometimes screaming and
wailing, sometimes just a deep sigh. But I can tell the difference
whether it's the Holy Spirit or just me, and when it's Him, then
that's what you call "Praying in the Spirit." And from
God's perspective they are all linguistic. He understands the
"words of our groaning." (Psalm 22:1)
The short of this
is that I believe that when you first receive ANY of the Holy Spirit,
your "tongues" dial (and the other ones) turns from ZERO to
whatever He wants to put it on. If you want more and ask for it,
He'll dial it up and you may get something instantly or over time or
of any of a huge variety of flavors. Basically, the more transparent
you are - the more you get out of the way - the more the Holy Spirit
can do whatever He wants through you and the more dangerous you are
to the enemy. The more you seek Him and get out of His way, the
higher your dial gets turned.
Now, you still
have to test the spirits. Don't get me wrong. I'm not in favor of
chicken clucking or airplane sounds. You don't want to do anything
out of your own flesh or to imitate someone else just to fit in!
That's just mocking God. Essentially, you're taking the Lord's name
in vain when you "fake" tongues or use it outside of His
guidelines. Or when you don't test the spirits and allow something
bad to get in so you can have an "experience".
There are
satanists and witches that can speak in all kinds of tongues. Demons
know all the languages of Man so it's no big deal for them to
influence someone that is receptive. Hearing someone speak in tongues
is NO evidence that God is in them! Without the gift of discernment
of spirits or hearing God really well and asking Him specifically
about someone, you are pretty much flying blind to know if it's from
God or not in someone else. You should watch for the fruit, but
sometimes in a public meeting with strangers there's no way to see
that. I've personally dealt with demonic tongues on multiple
occassions in Christians who didn't know it wasn't from God. But
someone they didn't know laid hands on them and gave them something
icky (and they allowed it or sought it). Always ask the Lord to guard
you with the Blood of Jesus against anything bad coming from anybody
that would lay hands on you!
So, to summarize,
why pray in your own strength when you could just get out of the way
and let the Holy Spirit pray THROUGH you? Isn't it just prideful in
the extreme that you think you can pray better than the THIRD of the
Godhead that lives in you?! If you have Jesus, you can pray in the
Spirit. Just ask Him to teach you how and believe that He wants to.
You don't need some big showy huddle down front at the church with
lots of people praying on you and shaking you. Just ask in faith and
believe that He wants you to learn how to pray in the most efficient
possible way. He's a good Dad. He's not going to give you a stone if
you ask for bread.
I can tell you, my
walk with God hit warp speed when I started letting Him pray for me!
Now I spend anywhere from four to eight hours a day praying in the
Spirit (in one form or another as He leads). And since the Spirit is
praying, my mind is idle, so I can go about my business or drive or
pray in my mind for something else. It's like double-barrel
praying! (I Corin. 14:14-15)
There are those
that say that tongues are dead and it's not for today. They are
insulting and demeaning and marginalizing the deep, daily experience
of about 800,000,000+ Jesus-lovers all around the world. They are
calling brothers and sisters in Christ liars and cheats and/or
unstable tools of satan. They are saying that - since He did
something THEN that He doesn't do now and made a promise that it was
for us, but didn't mean it - God changes and His Word is not
reliable. Since the VAST majority of growth in the church world-wide
is because of the tongue-speaking charismatic arm of the spectrum,
those who are staunchly entrenched in their mainline, fundamental
denominations are really arguing from a losing position. If they're
really going to put their money where their mouth is, then they
should scrub out of their lives EVERY tongue-speaking preacher,
musician, missionary, theologian, teacher, writer, etc. And since
they would be left with VERY little music, art, literature, radio or
TV and practically no effective missions efforts locally and abroad,
they probably need to rethink their devise ways. Maybe reread
Galatians 5:19-21 (especially that part about strife and division and
not inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven).
There are those
that say "tongues" (glossolalia is the technical term) are
indeed a real manifestation of God and MIGHT be for today but they
are ONLY languages of Man used in public for evangelization - and
since there is not evidence whatsover of ANYONE speaking in a
language of Man in the last 1900 years, then it's not for today."
This statement is a giant crock of dog doodie. It is a bold faced
lie and is uneducated and uninformed and unresearched. I am
personally familiar with people that have prayed in tongues and been
told by others present that it was perfect Japanese. I'm aware of two
people in other countries that had an urgent need and prayed and God
gave them ENGLISH! I'm aware of Wycliffe Bible Translators deep
in a jungle somewhere who have the Lord give them a prayer language
to help reach the people group they're working with. The 1901
Pentecostal renewal that started with Parham's Bible school in
Topeka, KS showed documented evidence by newspaper reporters of his
students spontaneously speaking in dozens of languages of other
countries that were previously unknown to them. At the Azusa Street
Revival in 1906 to 1909 there were hundreds of documented cases of
adults, and even children, speaking, writing and singing in, unknown
to them, but known to others present or documentable languages. There
is evidence throughout church history of outbreaks of tongues for
specific evangelistic purposes to overcome language barriers.
Further, I think
that is our ONLY hope of reaching all people groups with the Gospel
anytime soon, since the process of learning and translating the Bible
into the remaining 6,000 +/- languages and dialects is going to take
a REALLY long time at our current rate of spending. Don't believe
this lie, it's a crock. Do some research. God is still alive
and moving. He established the language barriers at Babel, He can
remove them anytime He wants. And He is still doing it all over the
world, all the time. And He can do it through and in you if you will
let Him and believe He wants to.
Don't be afraid of
God. He knows what He's doing. He's not going to give you a stone
when you pray for bread. Just ask and believe in faith it's possible.
Stop putting Him in a box. Just get out of the way and let Him be God.
If it helps, pray this:
Lord, if there is
more out there that you have for me than I realize, would you please
reveal it to me? I want to be effective in my prayer life and I want
to be closer with You. I want to hear Your voice and have the kind of
intimacy that the David and Paul and Moses and Jesus had. I want to
hear you clearly. Please let Your Holy Spirit flow through me in
whatever way You think best. Teach me how to pray. I love You and I
trust You. Do it however You like ... but right NOW would be nice. In
the Name of Jesus I send this petition to the Father, knowing it's
inside Your will and that You WILL answer it. Amen.
Got questions?
Just ask.
Wanna argue
with me?
Feel free, I've heard it all.
hey how are yea i had a question
about the speaking in tongues, i know that speaking in tongues is a
gift of the holy ghost,but in all the accounts in acts when thay
spoke in tongues there was a differnt nationalitys present meaning it
is used for a sighn for others who spoke diferent laguages. Cor 14:22
Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers;
prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. NIV
so can the gift be used for
self-edification.if so is it scriptural??iv been very confused over
this topic for a long time now,i speak in tongues but im starting to
dought that its scriptural.if you can help me ill be very gratefull.thanx,,
My response:
Sorry to take so long getting
back with you.
I Corin. 14:2-4 makes it clear
that the person themselves is edified and that they are speaking to
GOD when they speak in tongues.
"For anyone who speaks in a
tongue does not speak to men but to God. indeed, no one understands
him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. But everyone who prophesies
speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement, and comfort. He
who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies
the church."
He goes on to say that he would
like it if they ALL spoke in tongues, but even more so that they prophesy.
What you need to understand, the
key to making sense of these passages is that when tongues are
interpreted, THAT it becomes prophecy. There are other kinds of
prophecy, too, but that is the point. The testimony of Jesus IS the
spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10). So if the Holy Spirit is speaking
and it's interpreted, then you are prophesying. If you look at the
Old Testament passages where Saul or the prophets were prophesying,
some of the versions translate it as "speaking ecstatically"
- that is, Saul freaked everybody out because he was speaking in
tongues, and presumably someone was interpreting.
Paul also talks about praying in
tongues (and singing) in I Corin. 14:14-15. It's not just about
evangelizing, it's about praise, thanksgiving and personal discussion
with God. Paul says that when he is praying in the spirit (tongues),
his mind is idle. I understand that from my personal experience, I
can have stuff coming out of my mouth in tongues and do my grocery
list at the same time. Because it's not ME coming out of my mouth,
but the spirit of God. So Paul suggests that we prayin our minds at
the same time that we are praying in the spirit.
That passage in I Corin. 14:22-25
makes sense when you see that the "prophecy" they are
talking about there in interpretation of the tongues given.
Consider too that I Corin. 14:26
says that ALL of these components are MANDATORY if the church is to
be strengthened. That is, the pentecostals that don't interpret are
wrong and the baptist that forbid tongues are wrong. There has to be
the FULLNESS of the balance of the gifts. Not SO THAT the Holy Spirit
can move, but more as a natural by product of the Body getting out of
the Holy Spirit's way. That is, if you put Him in a box, you won't be
strengthened as you should be.
This
site is meant to be just
a plain, direct reporting of how miserably, horribly, devastatingly
badly we
- the
Christians in
the West - have
mismanaged the massive gifts which God has entrusted to
us. Maybe we can change
directions if we try something different. Maybe if we started
listening to God really well and obeying radically, no matter what
the cost. Yeah, that might work.
Although
we're perfectly capable of it - we're
not trying to impress you with our fancy web design, marketing savvy
and slick Madison Avenue ad techniques. Truth is Truth.
Your heart knows the difference.
