The Holy Spirit: What is Praying in Tongues?

I have made it no secret that I pray in tongues.  It’s almost odd for me to write it out because several years ago I would have never thought that I would be “that guy”.  I truly believed that this stuff was reserved for overzealous Pentecostals and ecstatic heebie jeebie inducers on TBN.  My experience in receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit wasn’t my first shot at praying in tongues.

A while back I worked at a Methodist church in Wichita that began taking more liberties in exploring the gifts of the Spirit.  One Sunday the pastor stood up in front of the congregation and broke the ice by saying, “I pray in tongues!  And what are you going to do about it?”  I just kind of smiled, laughed, and cheered him on.  I was all about stepping on Church tradition at that stage in the game and he was walking some really fine lines by coming out like that.  Frankly it encouraged me and at the end of his sermon I went forward to receive the gift of praying in tongues.

Although I was prayed for by people who were really eager to impart the gift into me, nothing seemed to happen.  More than anything I just felt like an idiot for standing in front of an entire congregation for unknown mysteries to pour out of my mouth.  It wasn’t until seven months later while receiving prayer from a foreign missionary in preparation for the World Race that God’s presence fell on me, and the mysteries of His Spirit came flooding out of my mouth and into creation around me.

I remember after I first received the gift of praying in tongues I wanted to share the news with everybody!  Unfortunately I encountered more opposition than I did acceptance to my newly received grace.  Uttering unknown languages is not that common in Christian circles these days, so I had to use Scripture to warm my friends up to the idea.

In yesterday’s post I addressed the fact that speaking in tongues often accompanies baptism in the Holy Spirit.  Afterwards some speak in tongues regularly, others do not.  Sometimes it’s proven itself to be a one-time thing, which I think is fine, but I also know people who strongly believe that all Christians should always pray in tongues, particularly after a Holy Spirit baptism.

So what is praying in tongues?  I think that there’s a difference between praying in tongues and speaking in tongues. 

When I pray in tongues it’s strictly between God and I.  I don’t normally pray in tongues for someone and expect him or her to understand me.  Sometimes when I do pray in tongues over an individual, I ask them first if it’s okay that I do so and that there probably won’t be an interpretation.  I pray in the Spirit because I believe like Paul says, in doing so, I speak not to men but to God.  The Lord knows what my spirit is groaning, although I may not always (Rm. 8.26).

As far as speaking in tongues go, I believe it is oftentimes meant for the corporate body of Christ to hear and in doing so it must be followed by an interpretation (1 Cor. 14.9, 13).  I have been present in a room when someone has begun speaking in tongues and almost immediately someone stood up and began giving an interpretation.  While it appeared to be an unknown language, my friend was the one giving the interpretation!  He thought it was cool because he said he understood them!  To me it was evidence of the Holy Spirit at work.  And the best part was that the interpretation brought edification to the entire body.

Praying in tongues merely edifies the spirit of the man praying.  So why is it important?  As believers, we’re called to build the body of Christ up.  I am, as an individual believer, an important piece within the body of Christ.  If I pray in the spirit and in turn edify (build up) myself, I am then also building up the body of Christ, equipping myself in such a way as to equip others. 

And while I don’t necessarily have scriptural evidence to support what I am about to say, I believe it to be true from my experience.

Oftentimes when I prayer walk I pray in tongues, but usually under my breath as to avoid awkward glances from strangers, but I’m praying in the Spirit nonetheless.  One day as I was praying I had a pretty cool mental picture of flowers blooming and attaching themselves to things around me – signs, trees, fence posts… everything.  As the words I was praying poured from my lips, so new life was blossoming everywhere I walked.  Of course I couldn’t see it physically, but I could feel it.

And, thus, is what I’ve learned and experienced about praying in tongues.  Feel free to add anything else in the comments section below or email me with more questions.  I would love to answer them.

Tomorrow – the Holy Spirit: What is Prophecy?