“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.” (1 Cor 14:14, NKJ).
All the gifts of the Spirit require a stepping out in faith. For example: if you feel that God wants to heal someone, you need to go and lay hands on the person – you need to take the step of actually going to the person, asking them if you may lay hands on them (very important spiritual protocol), and then you need to do it. Without the actual action, the spiritual gift cannot happen. In a sense this is perhaps the most difficult part for someone who desires to speak in tongues: to step out in faith and simply to begin to just do it. Contrary to the general perception, a tongue does not “come upon” you unexpectedly; it is not just a spontaneous bubbling up that you have no control over. Just as Paul states guidelines regarding the gift of prophecy, so too is it true of all the spiritual gifts, but especially with tongues: the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets (1 Cor 14:32). This simply means that a spiritual gift is not a spontaneous occurrence over which you have no control – the person receiving the gift can decide if they want to use it.
Because language is a general commodity of human functioning, one can easily feel that you yourself are fabricating the words. Initially, if it feels like you don’t have the boldness to do it, then pray and ask our Father for the gift, and step out in faith: say the words that come up. Often one feels rather foolish about this “babble” language and the enemy is quick to try to convince you that you made it up yourself. Do not believe him.
The interpretation of tongues works on the same principle. If there is a tongue, ask the Holy Spirit for an interpretation. He can give you a Scripture, or a passage in your spirit, or a song, or whatever. Step out in faith – it needs to be tested in any case. And remember: everyone is in a learning process and needs to be able to make mistakes. (As Gary Player said: “the more I practice, the luckier I get”.)
Is 28:11 has indeed become true regarding this spiritual gift: “For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people”. (This is why speaking in tongues often appears as if there is much repetition of sounds and words – it is spiritual stuttering!) Let God lead you into this mystery – it produces much fruit in your life.
- Sela: Learn to trust the Holy Spirit on a new level with the practice of this spiritual gift.
- Read: Ex 9; Ps 59; Rom 1
- Memorise: Rom 1:16
- Going deeper: Bring Gen 1:11, Job 28:5 and Ps 104:14-17 in relation to these spiritual gifts.
