Lesson 11. “Effective Prayer” School. Author Mary Alice Islayb explains the importance of praying in tongues.
Suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting; And there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:2–4
Tongues are not learned expressions; it is impossible to learn to speak in these tongues, because it is the Holy Spirit speaking through us.
Speaking in tongues is not something insignificant to us. It is the Holy Spirit expressing through us what is in the heart and mind of the Father.
Praying in tongues is not a religious obligation. Nor is it like a wind-up mill whose disk you turn and then begin speaking like a machine. It is incomparable communion with the Holy Spirit. As a result of this relationship, you become sensitive to the source of tongues—to the Holy Spirit Himself—and to how and when to use this gift.
I will never forget how a highly respected prophet came forward during a service and prayed in tongues; it seemed that he was in another dimension. He called out to the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues.
Then a prophetess came forward. They prayed and prophesied, and then, looking at each other, began speaking in tongues to one another. And I thought, “What are they doing?” She spoke in tongues, and he responded; then she spoke again, and he responded again. Then they took turns addressing the Lord, and what they were saying had significance for their spiritual ministry.
People might ask, “What does this mean? This is not in the Bible.” But it is acceptable and understandable in the spiritual realm.
They acted before God in the spiritual realm, going beyond the natural; they did not act according to the flesh. A powerful anointing descended on the meeting. They spoke in tongues to one another before the Lord in the spirit. When you gain an understanding of spiritual things, doubts will no longer trouble you.
When you pray in tongues, it is very important to understand that there is a world of wonderful expressions that the Holy Spirit desires to introduce into your prayer language. He invests every word in tongues with purpose and meaning for clear and powerful expressions. In the right place, at the right time, in the right situation, every word spoken by the Spirit of the Lord has its place.
When I was 15, my grandparents told me about baptism in the Holy Spirit. I was born again at the age of eight and grew up in a Christian family, but it was not until I was 15 that they introduced me to this subject.
They belonged to the charismatic denomination of the Anglican Episcopal Church and were baptized in the Holy Spirit in the 1960s, when the charismatic movement began spreading through churches across the United States. As long as I can remember, they spoke in tongues and felt wonderful, but to me it was frightening. I was an educated, strong-willed girl and was afraid that I would lose control of myself if I spoke in tongues.
I did not want to be as strange as the other charismatics who spoke those “crazy” tongues. I could not understand where those tongues came from, and to my mind they sounded rather strange. But all these thoughts were merely covering up my fear. I was simply protecting myself with all my might.
But one Sunday evening I went to a service where the preacher taught about the power of the Holy Spirit and how He takes hold of us when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. That evening I decided to receive this baptism, so I went forward. They laid hands on me—and absolutely nothing happened!
I was very afraid to open myself to a prayer language. I tried with all my heart, squeezed my eyes shut, and attempted to speak in tongues, but my mind was in turmoil, and fear became a barrier. I did not know what awaited me if I spoke.
This continued for about a year. For a whole year I tried to speak in tongues, but in reality, I did not even open my mouth.
One evening I was at a Bible study with a friend when suddenly I felt as though a gigantic bubble were expanding inside me, and if I did not release it, I would die!
That evening I stood up in the middle of the study and asked everyone to stop. The teacher looked at me in surprise and asked, “What happened?” “There’s a bubble inside me,” I replied, “and if I don’t let it out, I’ll burst. I think it is the Holy Spirit, and I think I need to speak in tongues right now!”
They all smiled because they had been praying for me and said, “All right, go ahead. Speak in tongues.”
So I raised my hands and began shouting in tongues. At last I lost control of myself, but the Holy Spirit was in control of me. This was one of the best experiences of my life, second only to the day I was saved. It is so wonderful to have the power of the Holy Spirit in your life!
Obstacles on the Way to Supernatural Freedom
I must admit that fear kept me from surrendering to the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues, and this became an obstacle for me. The same fear of tongues takes hold of other people as well. They are afraid of what lies ahead or of what they have seen or heard, and fear prevents them from receiving what they desire so much.
Many people are unable to attain complete freedom in the Holy Spirit because fear binds them, and they protect themselves from the unknown in the spiritual realm. Everything in the spiritual world is done by faith, not on the basis of what we see, fear, or know!
When preaching to people about baptism in the Holy Spirit, you can help them become convinced that you are ministering to them in love, because love drives out fear. So, fear must be overcome; people need to be taught that there is absolutely nothing to fear. Fear is from the devil!
Another barrier on the way to the divine is people's minds and intellect. People not only fear the unknown ahead; their minds often become an obstacle for them.
Their spirit has almost reached the point of allowing the Holy Spirit to manifest, but their intellectual baggage, upbringing, and stubbornness do not allow it to happen. It turns out that speaking in tongues is beyond their abilities and understanding. They do not comprehend it with their minds, although they try very hard.
Tongues are not perceived by the mind. The Bible says that the mind is unfruitful when we speak in tongues. And it will be wonderful if you make your mind be quiet by opening yourself to the Holy Spirit.
The third reason people may be unable to open themselves to the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues as the Holy Spirit desires may be religious and cultural traditions.
“We have never done anything like this! This has never happened in our church. We have never seen anything like this.”
It may not be part of your upbringing, but it is in the Spirit of the Lord! You may have been raised in certain traditions, yet find new freedom in the spirit. Ask the Lord to help you! Do this in the Name of Jesus!
So, three things—fear, intellectual obstacles, and traditions—keep people from spiritual growth. The Holy Spirit will help you overcome them if you receive the Word of the Lord and the gift of the Holy Spirit by faith. It is a free gift to those who receive it. We thank You, Lord, that we can overcome these obstacles on the way to the Holy Spirit and to the wonderful world of tongues!
The Holy Spirit—Our Helper
The Bible speaks of a very important insight into the world of tongues and the spirit that is available to us.
Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses; for we do not know what we should pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unutterable groanings.
And He who searches the hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Rom. 8:26,27
The Holy Spirit is our Helper. If there is a problem that needs prayer, but I do not know exactly how to pray, I begin to pray in tongues.
When I pray in tongues, I stand against the problem, whatever it may be—small or great. I do not know how to pray, but the Holy Spirit stands against the problem together with me.
He cannot be the first to begin fighting the problem until I begin, because He is the Helper. This is His nature, His character. For Him to begin working, you must begin acting in accordance with His character.
The Holy Spirit rises against the problem together with us, and together we remove it from our path or place it in the Lord’s hands. This is one of the many things He does when we enter into praying in tongues.
When I pray, the Holy Spirit cooperates with me, praying through me and for me. My task is to speak in tongues and cry out to Him, while the Holy Spirit fights together with me—and as a result, I win!
Of course, this is not the only way to achieve results in prayer; we are simply focusing now on praying in tongues, on the help of the Holy Spirit and His cooperation with us.
You must understand that when we pray in tongues, the Holy Spirit helps us.
The Holy Spirit is our Helper, Intercessor, and Advocate. He intercedes personally for us when we pray in tongues. He also intercedes through us and with us when we pray for others.
Moving beyond our ordinary language
At the end of verse 26, it says that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. He does so with unutterable groanings.
This means that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and through us with sounds that are not part of ordinary language and cannot be expressed in the usual way.
In fact, we are the ones who speak, while the Holy Spirit is the One who gives the utterance, and what He says is an unusual language. The meaning of these sounds is too deep to express in a natural language.
I have a friend who once ministered in a church in Finland. At one meeting, while praying for the church, she began declaring in tongues, but the congregation understood her because she was praying in Finnish.
She kept repeating in Finnish: “Money, money, money.” She did not understand, but the people in the church did. Later, we learned that the church was experiencing a financial crisis,
The Lord needed someone to speak out and pray for that situation. She cried out to Him and, without understanding it with her mind, began to pray in Finnish. The church received support, and victory came soon afterward.
So sometimes, when we speak in another tongue, it may turn out to be a language that exists on earth. But remember, this is not always the case. In most cases, when we speak in tongues, we speak in the supernatural language of the Spirit of the Lord, unknown both to the speaker and the listener.
End of lesson.
