Speaking in tongues?

[tturt]

Many times heard speaking in our supernatural language is a doorway to spiritual gifts such as healing and miracles being manifest according to I Cor 12 - 14. Scripture? Experience?

 

[Pioneer3mm]

I read the book..'The Holy Spirit & You'..
- after a simple prayer..I spoke in tongues..
- the beginning of my experience/learning..about spiritual gifts.
- in 1970's.

 

[sandman]

Many times heard speaking in our supernatural language is a doorway to spiritual gifts such as healing and miracles being manifest according to I Cor 12 - 14. Scripture? Experience?

I believe it's true.....
I have made the statement that... "I think tongues is the foundational manifestation not just to the other 8 but to an intimate walk with the Father" ...based on the 12 Benefits of Tongues. .....Not saying I am right, but you're confirmation strengthens that.

 

[mourningdove~]

Many times heard speaking in our supernatural language is a doorway to spiritual gifts such as healing and miracles being manifest according to I Cor 12 - 14. Scripture? Experience?

I tend to agree, since when we pray in tongues it is the Holy Spirit 'praying' for things, and His 'prayers' are perfect.

"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. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."
~ Romans 8:26-28

 

[ByTheSpirit]

There's no direct scriptural support for this that I know of, but that certainly doesn't mean it's not how God works. I think the thing to remember ultimately is that healing, miracles, any gift really (other than tongues) is manifested according to the will of the Father. He gives us tongues, we can use tongues whenever we want, and in a way, tongues are the most precious spiritual gift of those listed in 1 Cor 12 for tongues builds up. Any time we need encouragement or edification in the Spirit, we can pray in tongues and the Father gave that to us. But the others are given according to His will, and manifested according to His will.

Now I wouldn't argue against healings and miracles happening as a result to someone praying in tongues. As @mourningdove~ said, praying in tongues is the Spirit praying through us, and He may be calling for such things to happen in that moment.

 

[Richard T]

The baptism of the spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues is the doorway because it brings the power to witness.
Acts 1:8 (KJV) 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

This power manifests gifts as the Holy Spirit chooses. Praying in tongues edifies, speaks the mysteries of God, and intercedes for others. This will bring you to closer to being full of the spirit, and from this fullness, more power is likely. (Fasting may do this too)

I have heard some say and I would personally agree that if you pray in the spirit with tongues for say an hour a day, you will soon notice the shift. Earnestly desire spiritual gifts, is not just wishing, it is active, seeking of the Lord, using what you have to venture deeper and deeper. What that manifests is ultimately up to God, but to the zealous I doubt there is much lacking when it comes to opportunities for witnessing or making disciples.

 

[ARBITER01]

Many times heard speaking in our supernatural language is a doorway to spiritual gifts such as healing and miracles being manifest according to I Cor 12 - 14. Scripture? Experience?

GOD had Ezekiel prophesy over some dead bones and they became bodies. Ezekiel was obedient to operate one gift and GOD operated another, the working of miracles.

So in that sense, yes it is possible that one gift can be a sort of precursor to another operating also by GOD, but such an activity could not be depended on whenever we prayed. It's completely up to GOD. Each gift is separate. My tongues gift does not foretell the future anymore than my gifts of healings gift interprets tongues.

 

[sandman]

I think the thing to remember ultimately is that healing, miracles, any gift really (other than tongues) is manifested according to the will of the Father.

This is just an FYI regarding your statement.

I think I know where you get the notion of what you mentioned….and maybe this will give you some insight. …. I will not carry this convo any further to avoid sidetracking this thread… there is more to this but I will focus primarily this verse.

1Co 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

This is a literal translation of verse 11: ….Each and every one of these indeed are energized by that one and self-same spirit, dividing to every man as he [the man] wills.

I can give you a break down of the Greek words used if you wish… just ask in “message” or “conversation” (whatever it’s called) to avoid sidetracking this thread. Or you can check it out yourself in the Greek-English interlinear. But the biggest misleading word in this verse is severely which is easy to check. The Greek word is idios which is used 113x in the NT... of which 93x it is translated as “his own”, “ones own”, “your own” or “private” as it does in 2Pe 1:20. It cannot be as God wills or it would contradict other verses, including verse 7.

 

[YorkieGal]

I witnessed my mom speaking in tongues when I was a child, many, many times. She is the only person I have seen in person speak in tongues and I was too young to understand and I'm too old now to give any objective perspective on it. I didn't know it was a controversial thing because I was raised believing that it was something that was viewed as a gift when someone is 'in the spirit'.

 

[ByTheSpirit]

I witnessed my mom speaking in tongues when I was a child, many, many times. She is the only person I have seen in person speak in tongues and I was too young to understand and I'm too old now to give any objective perspective on it. I didn't know it was a controversial thing because I was raised believing that it was something that was viewed as a gift when someone is 'in the spirit'.

It's only controversial because some misuse it to seem more spiritual and others refuse to come off of their tradition

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

It's only controversial because some misuse it to seem more spiritual and others refuse to come off of their tradition

I heard something really good during a discussion about keeping close to God's Word, where the person said that although the virgin birth should not have happened according to science, it actually did happen in Jesus' case. Therefore it was an absolute miracle. He said that people get confused over miraculous events because they try to work them out through human logic instead of just accepting God's Word that it did and does happen. It is the same with tongues. 1 Corinthians 14:2 says when a person speaks in tongues they speak mysteries of the Spirit to God. We don't know how that happens, but God's Word says it does, and we can't provide any answers through human logic. Human logic tells us that speaking a made up language that we have never learned is just gibberish, but God's Word says it is speaking mysteries in the Spirit to God. So, what do we decide to believe? If we accept Sola Scriptura, then we accept the latter rather than the former, and take it as true because God's Word is true, even when it doesn't conform to human logic.

It is also interesting to me that Cessationists say that we need to keep to God's Word rather than experiences, yet when they argue against tongues, they use the experiences of those who are misusing tongues as a basis for their opposition to it, when they can't find anything in Scripture that says that tongues ceased after the First Century. How does that work? Aren't they contradicting themselves?

Therefore, when I pray in tongues, God's Word says that I am speaking mysteries in the Spirit to God, and that is good enough for me, even though it sounds illogical to me.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Many times heard speaking in our supernatural language is a doorway to spiritual gifts such as healing and miracles being manifest according to I Cor 12 - 14. Scripture? Experience?

I have found that when I feel the need for prayer but can't think of anything to say to God, and I feel as spiritually dry as a bone, I have started with tongues and after a short while I feel a great freedom of expression to God and my mind it full of things to say to Him. What started out as a couple of minutes of prayer just to remind God that I am still here, has resulted in two or three hours of precious fellowship with him as I have prayed with the Spirit and prayed with my understanding in English. I think it is consistent with the Scripture in Jude where it says, "Building ourselves up in our most holy faith, praying in the Spirit." Therefore praying in tongues builds up our faith and we approach God's throne of grace to enter into close fellowship with Him in the Spirit, where our hearts and minds are released to talk freely with Him and are open to hear Him speak to us through His Word.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

This is just an FYI regarding your statement.

I think I know where you get the notion of what you mentioned….and maybe this will give you some insight. …. I will not carry this convo any further to avoid sidetracking this thread… there is more to this but I will focus primarily this verse.

1Co 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

This is a literal translation of verse 11: ….Each and every one of these indeed are energized by that one and self-same spirit, dividing to every man as he [the man] wills.

I can give you a break down of the Greek words used if you wish… just ask in “message” or “conversation” (whatever it’s called) to avoid sidetracking this thread. Or you can check it out yourself in the Greek-English interlinear. But the biggest misleading word in this verse is severely which is easy to check. The Greek word is idios which is used 113x in the NT... of which 93x it is translated as “his own”, “ones own”, “your own” or “private” as it does in 2Pe 1:20. It cannot be as God wills or it would contradict other verses, including verse 7.

Although there is a point which is supported by the Scripture, "The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet", I have a difficulty with your grammar. The context of the verse is that the gifts are energized by the Spirt, and so the pronoun "he" as to grammatically relate to the Spirit, rather than the man.

But then, to be fair, the Scripture says that we should desire spiritual gifts, especially that we prophesy, so there is a level of cooperation between the Holy Spirit and us in how the spiritual gifts are manifested Also, there is a Scripture in Romans that we should prophesy to the level of our faith. What this means is that there is a grey area in which although the gift of the Spirit are given to the body of Christ rather than individuals, we can desire a particular spiritual gift and if we are given the faith to manifest it, then there is an element of personal choice.

So both are valid: We can wait on God for Him to manifest a gift through us according to His will, or we can step out in faith in our desire to manifest a gift and He could honour our faith and allow it to be manifested.

We had a pastor once who maintained that if the Holy Spirit didn't move him, he would move the Holy Spirit.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

I tend to avoid terms like "supernatural," which have no relevance to scriptures. There is no such thing as "supernatural," per se. It is a word that is used because we may not understand the biblical experience. It is either natural or spiritual. Speaking in tongues is spiritual. The problem with introducing new words into the discussion is that the new words bring in frames of reference and foundations that may be extra-biblical.
Paul said, "When I speak in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays." That is not supernatural anymore than feeling compassion, vocalizing praise, experiencing joy, or expressing love. Praying in tongues is nothing more than attempting to enunciate a spiritual movement, one that cannot be expressed with articulate language. It could be as simple as moaning, groaning, or making a sigh. Only God can look into your heart and discover what is being meant. The trouble with using terms like "supernatural" is people will tend to look outside themselves for something that actually comes from within themselves: MY spirit prays. It is not a language, and cannot be understood by anyone listening. If someone understands what is being said, it is not tongues, it is prophecy. Only God understands tongues.
1 Corinthians 14:2 KJV
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.

1 Corinthians 14:14 KJV
14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

He is saying his spirit is bearing fruit (the tongues), not his mind.
So many people are not speaking in tongues because they are expecting some power to come over them, take over their mouths, and speak through them in some full-blown language. That is not how it happens. Everyone who has ever groaned, cried, or sighed from out of their spirit has spoken in tongues. As one matures in the spirit, their tongues will become more refined and "language" sounding.
In my personal experience, my first attempt to speak from the spirit was not even tongues. It was prophecy. Fall of 1971.
"I have loved you with a great love..."
I later spoke in tongues. This sounded like a single syllable repeated over and over, with the sensation of tapping my tongue on the roof of my mouth.
Sometimes. while in the presence of a heavy anointing, people may spontaneously pray in tongues. I have seen this many times.

 

[ARBITER01]

So many people are not speaking in tongues because they are expecting some power to come over them, take over their mouths, and speak through them in some full-blown language. That is not how it happens. Everyone who has ever groaned, cried, or sighed from out of their spirit has spoken in tongues. As one matures in the spirit, their tongues will become more refined and "language" sounding.
In my personal experience, my first attempt to speak from the spirit was not even tongues.

Sometimes. while in the presence of a heavy anointing, people may spontaneously pray in tongues. I have seen this many times.

There are two operations of the gift of tongues in scripture, praying and speaking. Praying is the personal use of the gift by our human spirits (for the most part, The Holy Spirit can also begin to operate our prayer tongue in certain intercession prayers), while the speaking is the corporate use of the gift by The Holy Spirit.

We don't operate our prayer tongue in the corporate assembly and try to get people to believe it was The Holy Spirit doing it. There will be no edification during that because it was not The Holy Spirit operating the gift, and anyone who has been around The Holy Spirit's operation of tongues will begin to look at you funny, if not call you out right there or after service.

On this forum, there are many people who have experience with the prayer tongue but lack the experience of the speaking tongue by The Holy Spirit.