The Power of Praying in Tongues
Why Every Believer Should Engage This Gift
For too long, praying in tongues has been treated like a theological option instead of a spiritual necessity. We’ve reduced it to a denominational divider instead of recognizing it as a divine weapon. We’ve argued about it rather than yielding to the glory of what it unlocks. But the truth is simple. Every born-again believer has access to this gift, and the Spirit longs to use it to transform your mind, govern your tongue, and align your life with heaven. Tongues are not strange. They are sacred. They are not for the spiritually elite. They are for the yielded.
Tongues Are a Promise, Not a Privilege
The first thing we must establish is that praying in tongues is not some fringe practice reserved for charismatics. It is a promised gift given by Jesus Himself. In Mark 16:17, He said clearly, “These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues.” This was not a suggestion. This was not a maybe. This was a declaration of what would mark believers.
In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled the upper room like a violent wind, and what was the evidence? Tongues. “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). All. Not some. Not just the apostles. Not just the leaders. All were filled and all spoke. This was not about personality or preference. It was about posture. Those who tarried received. Those who received spoke.
Peter later declared in Acts 2:39, “The promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Tongues are not outdated. They are not limited to first-century believers. If you have been called by God, this promise is for you. And if it is for you, then it is time to walk in it.
Tongues Build the Inner Man
Jude 20 gives us a glimpse into what happens when we pray in tongues. “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.” Tongues are not just a sign. They are a source of strength. They build you from the inside out. When you feel weak, uncertain, dry, or overwhelmed, praying in the Spirit stirs up what is eternal. It activates your faith. It stirs your remembrance. It ignites your hope. It does not depend on how you feel. It builds the spirit man who transcends feeling.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:4, “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself.” The word edify means to construct or strengthen. In the Greek, it is oikodomeo, meaning to build a house or to restore a foundation. Every time you pray in tongues, you are rebuilding your house. You are laying brick after brick in the unseen realm. You are fortifying yourself against lies, discouragement, and deception. You are not just speaking sounds. You are warring. You are aligning. You are becoming.
Tongues Govern the Untamed Tongue
James 3 tells us that the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. It is unruly. No man can tame it. And yet we are also told in Proverbs 18:21 that death and life are in the power of the tongue. That means we carry a weapon in our mouth that we cannot control in the flesh. The tongue has the power to bless or curse, to build or destroy, but without the Spirit, we do not know how to yield it properly. This is why tongues matter.
When you pray in tongues, you surrender the one thing you could never control. You give the Holy Spirit full reign over your speech. You yield the most powerful member of your body to God. And as you do, He begins to tame it. The carnal tongue spews gossip, complaint, fear, and lust. The spiritual tongue births worship, prophecy, intercession, and power. If you want to purify your mouth, you must first surrender your sound. Tongues trains your voice to yield to the Spirit instead of reacting to the flesh.
Isaiah 6 shows us a picture of this. When Isaiah encounters the glory of God, his first reaction is not excitement. It is terror. “Woe is me! I am undone! I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell among a people of unclean lips.” The moment he stepped into the presence, he became aware that his mouth was not worthy. But the angel did not touch his hands or his eyes. The angel touched his mouth with a coal from the altar. Only after that was Isaiah ready to be sent. The tongue had to be purified before the man could be commissioned. Praying in tongues is the coal that touches our lips in the secret place. It prepares us to carry the weight of God’s message with sanctified speech.
Tongues Transforms the Mind
Romans 8:26 tells us, “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.” Have you ever hit a place in prayer where words failed? Where your thoughts were cloudy? Where your emotions were too heavy to articulate? That is the moment where praying in the Spirit becomes the bridge between your frailty and heaven’s clarity.
When you pray in tongues, you are bypassing the limited mind and plugging into the unlimited mind of Christ. You are no longer praying what you think is needed. You are praying what heaven knows is needed. The Spirit does not guess. He prays according to the perfect will of God. Every time you pray in tongues, you are aligning with divine strategy. You are praying mysteries into manifestation.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:2, “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.” These mysteries are not confusion. They are concealed wisdom. They are kingdom secrets being released into the earth through your mouth. And as you speak them, your mind begins to shift. Your thoughts get clearer. Your discernment sharpens. Your anxiety begins to crumble. Why? Because your brain is no longer the source of your prayer. Your spirit is.
Tongues Activate Boldness and Power
In Acts 4:31, we are told that after the believers prayed, the place was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness. Notice that the filling of the Spirit was not a one-time event. Acts 2 was the initial infilling. Acts 4 was the continued overflow. This tells us something critical. You were not filled once to stay full. You must keep being filled.
Tongues are the tap that keeps the well stirred. When you pray in the Spirit, you shake off fear. You shake off timidity. You shake off distraction. Your confidence returns. Your voice returns. Tongues unlock the lion in you. It reminds you that you are not weak. You are not alone. You are not natural. You are supernatural.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:4 that his preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and power. That power came through prayer and tongues. The early church did not rely on strategies. They relied on the Spirit. And tongues were the gateway into that boldness. We are not waiting for a new strategy. We are waiting for surrendered vessels to pray until the fire falls again.
Tongues Are a Key to Intimacy
This gift is not just a weapon. It is a love language. Romans 8:15 says that we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but we have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father. The cry of Abba does not come from the head. It comes from the spirit. And it is often expressed in groanings and utterances too deep for language.
Sometimes the greatest breakthrough does not come in the words you say but in the sounds you release. Tongues are not about performance. They are about proximity. They are the breath of heaven flowing through you. They are how you bypass the noise and engage the throne.
1 Corinthians 14:15 gives a beautiful picture. Paul says, “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.” This is not an either or. It is both. There are times where you will understand every word you pray. And there are times where your spirit will take over and pray beyond your intellect. Both are worship. Both are intimacy. Both are needed.
Do Not Forbid What Heaven Gives
Paul closes 1 Corinthians 14 by saying, “Forbid not to speak with tongues.” It is a command we have ignored. Churches have banned it in fear of offense. Leaders have downplayed it in fear of appearing strange. But heaven has not changed its mind. Tongues are still needed. They are still powerful. And they are still available.
If you have not yet received this gift, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you. Yield your voice. Begin to speak what He places in your spirit. Do not analyze it. Do not be afraid. It is not a work of man. It is a river from the throne.
And if you have received it but let it grow dormant, stir it up. Make praying in the Spirit a daily practice. Let it be the first sound in the morning and the last sound at night. Let it be what you lean on when words fail. Let it be what you use to build your house, align your mind, and sanctify your mouth.
This is not an optional gift. It is a vital weapon. Tongues are how the Spirit wages war through you. Tongues are how your inner man is formed. Tongues are how you pray what you do not know and how you speak what you cannot see. You were never meant to live without this gift.
So pray. And keep praying. Speak. And keep speaking. Let the fire fall again. Let your mouth be an altar and your sound be incense.
And watch as heaven answers through your voice.
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