Avery County

The gift of tongues might be the most feared and controversial of all the other spiritual gifts combined. This gift has been misused and wrongly taught, causing some Christians to feel bad about themselves and even doubt their salvation. I want you to know that you do not have to pray in tongues to go to Heaven. God loves you the same whether you do or do not pray in tongues. On the opposite side of the spectrum, others have ignored, neglected, and misrepresented the gift of tongues. This has caused many to believe that the gift has passed away and is not available to us today. This is simply not true.

I believe the reason there is so much controversy and confusion surrounding the gift of tongues is that the devil doesn’t want us to do it. He knows this is a powerful gift, with many benefits, and he wants us to be ignorant of these things. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” Not understanding what God has freely given us in the gift of tongues has left many people wounded and defeated. It is time to know the truth that sets us free.

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 says, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.”

There are diversities of gifts, ministries, and activities involved in these giftings, but it is the same Spirit, Lord, and God who is working in them all. There is also a variety of manifestations given by the Spirit, but the same Lord is working them for the benefit of all. How the Holy Spirit works in me could look like how He works in you, but it may not look exactly the same. There are diversities in these gifts.

The gift of tongues, which is included in the list at the end of verse 10, also comes in various forms and includes many benefits. For example, the gift of tongues for our personal prayer language is usually done in private. This is the type of tongues Paul was referring to when he said he wished we all spoke in tongues.

There is also another manifestation of tongues for a public setting. I call this “speaking in tongues.” Speaking in tongues is a message spoken out in a public setting (like a church service) in a language not known by the speaker. In this setting, the message in tongues should be interpreted by either the one giving the tongue or another person with the gift of interpretation. Not every believer will speak in tongues during a church service and/or interpret a message in tongues, but every believer can pray in tongues. You see, there are different kinds of tongues and different manifestations of those tongues.

Another manifestation of the gift of tongues sometimes happens on the mission field. By the Spirit, an individual understands and speaks a native dialect foreign to him without receiving training in the language. St. Francis Xavier, in his mission to the Far East, is said to have spoken Japanese as if he had lived in Japan all his life. It is said that he “spoke to the various tribes with ease in their languages.”

The fact is, there are many benefits to praying in tongues. I can remember the first time I read my Bible after I was baptized in the Holy Spirit. It was like I was reading an entirely new book. Things that I had read many times before were now jumping off the pages to me with revelatory knowledge being released. I was a senior in Bible College who read the Bible a lot, but now it seemed like I was reading the Bible for the first time. It was amazing. Praying in tongues was helping me receive fresh revelation of God’s word.

Another benefit is that praying in tongues builds you up. It strengthens you from the inside out. 1 Corinthians 14:4 says, “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself.” The word “edifies” in the original Greek language means to be a house builder. When we pray in tongues, we are building ourselves up. Jude 1:20 says, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.” Notice it says we are building ourselves up in the most holy faith when we pray in tongues (praying in the Holy Spirit).

Years ago, my wife and I were working at a children’s home as house parents. One day, as the shift opposite us left to go home, I felt a heaviness in my spirit like something was wrong. I asked my wife, and she felt it too. We didn’t know how to pray as we ought to, so we prayed in tongues. We had no idea who or what we were praying for. After around ten minutes, peace came into our hearts, and we knew we could stop praying. We both wondered what it was all about. Although we had no idea, it felt like a life-or-death situation.

About two weeks later, some of the teens we worked with were traveling to an NBA basketball game. On the way to the game, they were in a horrible accident. One student was ejected through the windshield. Another went through the front passenger window. Miraculously, no one was injured. The driver (a friend of mine) somehow unbuckled during the crash and moved out of the way before a huge piece of metal sliced through his seat. Both students who were thrown from the car only had minor bumps and scratches. When the police officers arrived on the scene, they could not believe that someone didn’t die in the crash. When my wife and I heard about the accident and the amazing supernatural protection that took place, we knew that this was the heaviness we had prayed in tongues about.

Another time, my wife and I woke up around 2:00 am. It wasn’t because our kids were crying; God woke us up. Again, we felt a strong need to intercede for someone. We started to pray in tongues, and shortly afterwards, I felt like I knew who we were praying for. I didn’t know what the situation was, but it felt like life or death. I wondered if this person was struggling with suicidal thoughts, but I didn’t know what was going on. We prayed for 10-15 minutes until we felt peace, and we both quickly fell back asleep.

A few days later, this teenage boy (whom I thought we were praying for) was in a serious car accident. He was driving down a steep, winding road and went off the bank. His car rolled down the hill, and he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. His airbag did not work correctly, and it deployed and hit him in the face only after the car had totally stopped. Amazingly, he was not hurt at all; he only had a few marks on his face from the delayed airbag. When he came home, we hugged him and were very thankful for God’s protection. He went upstairs to get a shower, and when he took off his shirt, there was a huge hand-shaped mark on his chest at an angle that would have been impossible to make himself. This hand mark was much larger than a human hand. We asked God, and He confirmed to us that this was what we were praying about at 2:00 am a few nights before. Praise God for spiritual gifts and groanings of intercession! This is just one of the many benefits of praying in tongues. Romans 8:26 says, “Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

Praying in tongues is a gift from God given to you because He loves you and He knows it is good for you. It is a free gift available to you today.

Blessings,
Pastor Ryan

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Ryan Bridgeo is the Pastor of Plumtree Church in Avery County, NC. If you would like to know more or how you might become involved in this ministry please reach out to Pastor Ryan at [email protected] or call 828-765-6919.

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