Praying in tongues - what is the issue?

Would you, if something changed your life significantly, just keep it to yourself? Will you just be quiet about it? Will you just be complacent about it when you know what people are saying are lies, when you know it is not true, it is not consistent with the Word of God, and it is not consistent with my experience? Hi, everyone. Trust you are well, and that you'll enjoy this message. I'm sure it will answer a lot of your questions.

I receive so many questions, suggestions and requests to discuss this topic, so it is probably overdue already that we discuss it. As you can see from the title, it is about what the issue is with praying in tongues or speaking in tongues. I hope I will be able to address those questions. It is obviously a very controversial subject – the topic of many discussions, issues, arguments and perceptions.

Like with any topic that you want to discuss that is biblical, you have to start with what the Word of God says about it. If we are going to measure the validity of something based on perception, based on experience, based on what other people say, there is no foundation for it. How do you measure what is right, what is wrong, what is reality? We cannot even measure what is truth based on our experience. There might be a truth, a reality that exists that you have never experienced in your life, or things you have experienced that are in contrast with it, and we cannot use our experience as the measure.

So what is the issue with praying in tongues or speaking in tongues? There definitely is an issue with it – that is obvious. I would like to start by saying some of the issues people experience with it are valid. It is like I always explain about a tool: if you use a tool for the wrong reason, that tool is not necessarily to blame. If I drive a 4x4 and park it on the pavement and get a ticket, the issue is not the type of vehicle I am driving. The issue is not the vehicle at all; it is the fact that I chose to use it in a certain way.

Unfortunately, when it comes to praying in tongues or speaking in tongues – and I will explain the difference just now, but if we generalise – people have been given enough reason to have an issue with the topic and the concept. Some people who have been able to speak in tongues or pray in tongues have portrayed it in a way that has certainly not been a positive image, or conducive to living love, contributing towards unity, oneness and acceptance.

Some people who have prayed or spoken in tongues in the past have developed the mentality that they are somewhat superior to other people – just that little bit of a better Christian because they can pray or speak in tongues and other people can't. That is one of the issues. Another is that some people would say, "If you don't pray in tongues, that is an indicator that you have not been filled with the Holy Spirit." That is obviously also a contradiction and an issue for many people who hold that viewpoint.

And then, in general, some denominations as a whole will say, "No, we don't believe in speaking in tongues or praying in tongues," and everybody in that congregation or denomination follows that line of belief.

So there certainly has been enough issue that people have experienced with praying in tongues. Even people who have tried to pray in tongues, the way they were led to do so was sometimes through somebody saying, "Okay, say this after me," or "Just make a noise," or "Just pretend that you are praying in tongues because it's an indication that you are filled with the Spirit." I could continue, but you get the idea that there is enough ammunition. If somebody wanted to say praying in tongues is an issue, they would be very right, because there are a lot of issues surrounding it.

But I started by saying that if we want to talk about a topic, we need to go back to the Word of God and look at what it says. So I want to backtrack one step from making praying in tongues the focus, because it is not meant to be the focus. The focus, if we start with Acts 1:8, is: "You shall receive power when you receive the Holy Spirit," and then it continues, "and you shall be My witness."

The word "power" used there is dunamis – the word from which "dynamite" is derived – and it means the power to effect change. So it says: when you receive the Holy Spirit, you have received the ability to effect change. Then it continues with something very important for the focus: "You shall be My witness." There is a purpose with it – we have a commission and a purpose in this earth. God created us for a reason. He has sent us for a reason. We are in this earth to manifest His presence, to glorify Him, to be a tool in His hand, to establish His Kingdom.

The only way we can have sustainable value and impact in the Kingdom of God is by the Spirit of God, not through our own ability. Yes, we can do nice things, good things, through our own ability as well, but that which truly has lasting, significant impact in the Kingdom of God – that which is in tune with God's heart, His desire, His timing – all of that is only possible by the ability of the Holy Spirit and being led by the Holy Spirit.

So the significance of Acts 1:8 is: you are here for a reason, you are here for a purpose, and you are going to establish God and His presence on this earth, manifest His presence, manifest His love, and live to glorify Him – as we see in the example of what Jesus did. And we can only do that by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is significant to have that perspective: it is all about Him, it is all about His purpose.

And on top of that, not only is it about His purpose, but it is by His ability as well – through the ability of the Holy Spirit given to us, we can do something of significance in the Kingdom to His glory. He gives us the desire, He gives us the ability, and through the Holy Spirit we can do what He has called us for. So we need that perspective: it is about God, and it is about the ability of the Holy Spirit.

Now, one of the misconceptions is that people will say, "If you don't pray in tongues, you're not filled with the Spirit of God." That is a lie from Satan. There is no foundation for it. Yes, one of the signs could be speaking in tongues or praying in tongues, but that is not the determining factor. Somebody could still, without praying or speaking in tongues, be filled with the Spirit of God, have an intimate, loving relationship with God, be led by the Spirit of God, and still have significant impact in the Kingdom of God.

So it is not this ultimate thing that once you pray or speak in tongues, only then have you arrived, and only then can you do something of significance. We need to understand that clearly.

But we also need to take into consideration, looking at the Word of God, that it is very clear this ability – to pray in tongues, to speak in tongues – was given to us through the Holy Spirit; it is a tool that God has given us. Considering the significance of the power of the Holy Spirit in us and through us, one of the ways to activate that power through us is to pray in tongues. So it is a significant, powerful tool, but it is not the be-all and end-all. It is not the measurement, and it is not meant to make somebody superior.

Coming back to the tool illustration: if you use your 4x4 wrongly and offend people or damage property, the issue is not with the tool. But because people have misused it, and because of all these wrong perceptions, people have got hurt, people have been misled, and because of that, people may have missed the opportunity to really get in touch with the true gift, the true ability, and to use it.

So maybe this is a good point to say there is a difference. Remember, I am talking about what is written in the Word of God, not about perception. If we truly want to learn something, to change something, to see different results in our life, we need to be open to being teachable – to receive new information and respond to it. It does not help to argue about it for three hours over whether it is for everybody or not. We need to go back to the Word of God, see what it says, and then, like with everything in the Word of God, act upon it. If you don't act on what is written in the Word of God, you won't see the results in your life. That's just how it is; that's how God established it.

So, talking about what the Word of God says: the first big misconception people miss is that there is a difference between praying in tongues and speaking in tongues. For some reason these two were lumped into one concept, treated as one, and because of that many people have missed the opportunity to actually experience the gift or ability of praying in tongues, for instance.

If you look at 1 Corinthians 12, it talks about the gift of speaking in tongues. There it says the ability to speak in tongues is a gift given by the Holy Spirit, and He gives it to whom He wants to give it. The terminology used there for "speaking" – and in a few other places in the Word – is the word lalio: to speak. Specifically, where the terminology "speaking in tongues" is used, it is often tied with the prophetic gift and ability. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul also explains speaking in tongues, but ties it to the prophetic gift.

You have to clearly see in the Word of God – not in what we think, experience, or what our denomination tells us – the distinction between speaking in tongues and praying in tongues. I will attach some verses that you can read through and study for yourself. But even 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Corinthians 14 give enough information to realise that when it talks about speaking in tongues, the prophetic gift, it says not everybody has it.

It also says the prophetic gift is for the edification of the church – for building it up. That is why it says if you stand in front of people and speak in tongues, the prophetic gift, it doesn't help them unless somebody can interpret it. It doesn't help you to stand up and say, "Thus says the Lord," and speak in tongues, and nobody understands what you said. That is why it says somebody needs to be able to interpret it – otherwise, it says, rather keep quiet. That is the speaking in tongues: the prophetic gift, for the edifying of the body.

If you look at 1 Corinthians 14, Paul specifically – and I always say jokingly, if I get to heaven one day, I am going to ask Paul why he made it so complicated in that chapter – takes two concepts, the speaking in tongues (the prophetic gift) and the praying in tongues, and, like two combs pushed into each other, speaks about both within one chapter. So you can't just interpret everything in that chapter as concerning only the one or the other. You need to pull it apart: here is the prophetic gift, only for some, for edifying the congregation. And there it clearly talks about praying in tongues, and it clearly says, "Nobody will understand you, for you are speaking to God." It also says why: "You are edifying yourself."

So it is very clear he is talking about two concepts. The one, he says, is speaking to God – no one understands you, but you are building yourself up. There are other verses that say the same thing.

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.”

Jude 1:20 (NKJV)

So that is for the praying in tongues – building yourself up, equipping yourself, edifying yourself. Whereas the prophetic gift, the speaking in tongues, which is a gift not for everybody, is for the congregation, and that needs to be interpreted.

If you look at 1 Corinthians 14:14, it clearly states, "For if I pray in a tongue…" That word used there means pray – a different word from the one used elsewhere for speaking in tongues. Here it specifically says pray, and it is clearly being treated differently from the aspects that talk about speaking in tongues.

“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding.”

1 Corinthians 14:14-15 (NKJV)

How difficult is it to interpret that? If we take away our blinkers, our denominational beliefs, our background, our experience, our negative experiences from what other people may have taken us through, and purely look at the Word of God, we need to understand it is talking about praying. We can't just throw out the Bible wherever it says "pray" and replace it with "speak," and wherever it says "speak," replace it with "pray." If it says pray, it means pray.

So it makes it clear there are two ways of praying, at least in terms of that explanation – there are actually more, but for this discussion we talk about those two: praying in your understanding, and praying in the spirit.

So it is clear that the ability to pray in tongues comes from the Holy Spirit, and it is distinguished from actually speaking in tongues. Based on the Word of God, the ability to pray in tongues is different from speaking in tongues, and it is actually available to everybody. Why would God only want certain people to pray to Him and others not? Especially looking at the New Testament, there are so many commands to pray, and some of these refer to praying in the Spirit.

Similar to what we saw in 1 Corinthians 14:14, other verses in the Bible also explain praying in the spirit. One of the amazing ones is in Ephesians 6, which talks about the armour of God, and continues:

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”

Ephesians 6:17-18 (NKJV)

So, as in 1 Corinthians 14, there is a praying in the spirit and a praying in understanding, and there is a place for both. We don't have to say the one is superior to the other – it says you can pray in two ways: in the spirit, or in your understanding. As already shared briefly:

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.”

Jude 1:20 (NKJV)

Again, that indicates a way of praying that is praying in the Spirit. So there are enough verses in the Word of God to show that there are different ways of praying, and there is a reason for it. Something happens in us and through us when we pray in the Spirit, which brings us back to Acts 1:8, the power of the Holy Spirit. If you want to put it that way, it is part of dying to ourselves and our own ability, our desire to say something to God and put our own agenda on the list, but rather to take the back seat and say, "God, I want to allow Your Spirit to speak through me. I want Your Spirit to pray through me exactly what You want Him to pray at this stage."

I am going to read to you one of the explanations, or examples if you want to call it that, in Romans 8. I want to read to you from verse 26.

“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. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Romans 8:26-28 (NKJV)

We do not know what we should pray for as we ought. So when we pray according to our own understanding, there might be things I need to pray for that I am not aware of, that I am not thinking about, and maybe I missed the prompting of the Spirit to pray about that at that particular stage. Then it says the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered – meaning it is not a normal language. So we might not always know what to pray for, but the Holy Spirit always knows what to pray for.

But it continues: “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is.” Isn't that amazing? So who is it that is searching the hearts? It is the Father who is searching the hearts – there are other scriptures in the Word that refer to the same principle. He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So when you are praying in the Spirit, when you allow the Holy Spirit to make intercession through you, you are ensuring that the Holy Spirit is praying one hundred percent according to the perfect will of God at that stage.

It is as if He is saying, “He who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is.” God recognises that when you are praying in tongues, you are expressing God's desire from your heart, and God responds to it. Remember, I am just sharing scriptures with you right now – I will explain a few things towards the end, so don't come to conclusions yet.

“For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.”

1 Corinthians 2:11 (NKJV)

This is saying that the Spirit of God, who is inside God, knows everything about God. Then in Romans 8:27, which you just saw, because the Spirit of God knows everything about God, when He is praying through you, He is revealing God, He is revealing God's will and desire through you at that particular stage. That is why it says, “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is” – He is recognising Himself in that process of allowing the Spirit to pray through you.

Then it comes to verse 28: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” We take that verse in isolation, but in essence it is flowing from the previous two verses, Romans 8:26-27. It is still part of one thought, continuing into verse 28. So how do things work together for our good? The more the Father is revealed to us – that is the function of the Holy Spirit. The more we pray through the Holy Spirit according to His will, the more God is revealed to us, and the more God is revealed through us.

So I am not limiting God with my understanding, with my ability, with my agenda points when I want to pray or intercede. I am allowing God to say, “I am handing over to the Holy Spirit, and I want to facilitate the Holy Spirit to actually work through me and pray through me.” So it is clear from the Word of God, I can emphatically say to you, praying in tongues is an ability of the Holy Spirit that is expressed through an individual.

That is an ability of the Holy Spirit, different from the prophetic gift in 1 Corinthians 12. When you receive the Holy Spirit – Luke 11 says, when you have asked the Father, He will give you the Holy Spirit – you already have the ability to pray in tongues. I can tell you that emphatically from the Word of God, and also from the fact that I have prayed with thousands of people. Not just me, and not because I have a special gift – there are many others – but I am telling you from my own exposure and experience.

I have prayed with many people to pray in tongues, and ninety-five percent will pray in tongues immediately, once knowledge has come to them from the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God – not by deception, not by somebody's doctrinal beliefs. It is based on the Word of God. If we go back to the Word of God, we can see what the truth is. But the Word of God needs us to respond to it.

So why do people have such an issue with praying in tongues? I have already said some people have misused it and adopted a superior mentality, saying, “If you don't pray in tongues, it means you have not been filled with the Spirit.” That's a lie – it's not according to the Word of God. Praying in tongues is one of the gifts and abilities of the Holy Spirit, but you can be filled with the Spirit and not pray in tongues.

If you understand the difference between speaking in tongues – the prophetic gift – and praying in tongues, you will understand that every single born-again Christian who is filled with the Spirit of God has the ability to pray in tongues. I am talking specifically about praying in tongues. You have the ability, full stop. The only difference is when knowledge comes to you and a conviction follows, and you respond to it. It is not a separate thing that you must receive.

That is why I don't like the terminology when people say, “Have you received your language?” It makes it sound like a separate gift, a separate thing you must receive. That's not consistent with what the Word of God explains. We have already seen the instances in 1 Corinthians 14, Ephesians 6, and Jude 1:20, which explain that praying in tongues is praying in the Spirit – allowing the Holy Spirit to pray through you. The Holy Spirit would not give this ability to one person and not another, and yet give an instruction to all of us to pray in the Spirit. God would not give you an instruction if it were not something you could fulfil. So when you receive the Holy Spirit, you have the ability to pray in tongues. But when knowledge comes to you, you need to respond to it.

People in denominations sometimes simply say, “We don't believe in that.” I have to ask myself: even taking the line of thought – which I don't think is consistent with the Word of God – that praying in tongues and speaking in tongues are the same thing, and putting everything under 1 Corinthians 12 as a gift the Holy Spirit gives to whomever He wants, my question remains: people who hold that belief are, almost without exception, in an environment, a doctrinal belief system, a denomination where nobody in that church speaks in tongues.

And I'm not even talking about praying in tongues – let's just talk about speaking in tongues. They follow the line that says, “It's not for everybody, it is a gift only for a few.” My question is always: why did the Holy Spirit skip your whole congregation and decide not to give this gift to at least one person? Why isn't there at least one person there who speaks in tongues? That line of thought doesn't hold water for me. When you talk about praying in tongues, if you have the Holy Spirit, clearly there is an ability inside of you that must be expressed.

So what are some of the negative experiences and influences that make people struggle to hold on to this? I've already said it might be based on a whole church or denominational belief system. Because of our loyalty, respect and sense of belonging within that environment, unfortunately a denominational belief system easily becomes superior to the Word of God. Our country, our world, is full of it. Just because everybody has done it a certain way and everybody believes it doesn't mean it's consistent with the Word of God or that it's right.

Now remember, I have already put in context that praying in tongues is not the ultimate measure, not the ultimate tool – it's one of the tools. But I am specifically talking about that tool now. Based on my experience, I have prayed for thousands of people who have been able to pray in tongues – not because I have a gift, but because I bring the Word of God, and when they experience that truth, the belief takes root inside them, and they act upon it and start praying in tongues. So everybody has the ability to pray in tongues.

Do you need to pray in tongues? No, you don't need to pray in tongues. One of the common misconceptions is that praying in tongues has got something to do with your salvation. It is not something you can say – because I do not pray in tongues, or because another person doesn't pray in tongues, that you are uncertain about that salvation. That's not true, and it's not consistent with the Word of God. It is a tool, an ability. Whether you use it or not has got nothing to do with your salvation. It doesn't make you a better, more important, or more superior Christian than anybody else.

So it is for everybody, but it's your choice whether you want to express it. Remember, some people have had a lot of negative experiences concerning this, and that's why they're not open to it. But we need to go back to the Word of God, to see what is truth, what is reality. The Holy Spirit always responds to desire. So when you have that desire, when truth comes to you according to the Word of God and you say, “I want to do this,” then the Holy Spirit will respond to that desire, and He will enable that ability through you, or give you the conviction to respond to an ability that's already inside of you. Because that, in essence, is what it is: with the Holy Spirit, you receive the ability to pray in tongues. You have it. Whether you use it or not is totally up to you.

“For the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.”

1 Corinthians 14:32 (NKJV)

That means it is not consistent with the Word of God if somebody falls over and crawls around on the floor like a snake, making all sorts of funny noises, barking like a dog and things like that. It's not consistent with the Word of God. You are fully aware of what you are doing; you are the one who decides whether you are allowing the Holy Spirit to express Himself through you or not.

So one of the important things to realise, if you want to pray in tongues: the only requirements are that you must be born again and filled with the Spirit of God. That's all. Once you have the Holy Spirit inside of you, the Holy Spirit has the ability and the desire to pray in tongues through you, according to what we've already explained in 1 Corinthians 14 and Romans 8. So that ability is inside of you, but the Holy Spirit will never do something through you against your will. He will not. That's why it says the spirit of the prophet is under the control of the prophet.

That's one of the reasons why people often don't get to the point of praying in tongues. One of the misconceptions is: somebody prays with you, you stand there expecting to pray in tongues, you wait, and nothing happens – because people's expectation is that the Spirit of God is going to come and take over, and all of a sudden He's going to do something through you that you don't know He's doing, as if you're out of control, out of it. And then when you come back to yourself, you say, “What happened? What did He do through me?” It doesn't work that way. When you pray in tongues, you're fully aware of what you're doing, but you are expressing an ability of the Holy Spirit that's in you.

That is why, often when I pray with people the first time they pray in tongues, it's just awkward. Let's face it, it is awkward – it's something you're not used to.

“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.”

1 Corinthians 14:14 (NKJV)

You don't figure out with your mind how to pray in tongues. You don't have the ability to pray in tongues in your mind – it comes from your spirit. So the challenge people have is only there until they break that ice; once you break it, it's not an issue any more. I always say the people who don't pray in tongues are those who believe they can't, and those who believe they can, just pray in tongues. That's the deciding factor – it's not whether it is a gift for some or not. Those who believe they can, do. Those who believe they can't, don't.

The first time you want to pray in tongues, you have to understand it's an ability that's inside of you. The Holy Spirit needs to express it, and in order to do that, you must act in faith according to that ability that is inside of you. Because it's under my control, if I want to pray in tongues, I need to voice it. So I always explain to people: when you want to pray in tongues, you just have to confirm that you are born again, and you ask the Father for the Holy Spirit.

I normally just say, “Holy Spirit, come and fill my spirit, come and fill my heart, come and fill my mind, come and fill my body.” It's not strictly necessary, but it's part of that total conviction, that handing over, allowing the Spirit to totally fill me and be present, and allowing that ability to be stirred up inside of me. Having prayed that, I believe the Holy Spirit is inside of me, because that's what Luke 11 explains to us. And then I believe the Holy Spirit inside of me has the ability to pray in tongues.

But then I need to respond to it and allow it to come through me. If there is no air flowing through your vocal cords, the Holy Spirit cannot form those noises. One of the amazing things about praying in tongues is that none of us sound the same – which is probably why people use that terminology, “Have you received your language?” As I've said, I don't like that phrase, but it's neither here nor there. It's an ability that is inside of you, and every one of us sounds different.

That's why somebody can't pray with you and say, “Okay, do this noise, say what I say,” and then when you do, say, “There, you're praying in tongues.” It doesn't work that way. Every one of us has a different sound, a different language, if you want to call it that. So the first time you want to pray in tongues, it's a step of faith whereby you have to open your mouth and, in faith, speak – because it's from your spirit, not from your mind. You need to willingly decide to make your spirit at that moment more superior to your understanding and allow it to come out. You open your mouth, and in faith you just start speaking – not your normal language, not English, not Afrikaans, not Xhosa, whatever your language is. You open your mouth, and in faith you allow the Holy Spirit to start flowing through you. Yes, that first time might be awkward, but I can tell you, it's got no match against the impact it will have in your life once you actually start praying in tongues.

You take that step of faith, open your mouth, and allow the air to start flowing through. You might have to just respond so that the air flows, and then the Holy Spirit will start forming those noises and sounds – and every one of us sounds different. In the beginning, for many of us when we started praying in tongues, it was very awkward, because your mouth, your muscles, even your tongue, are being used in a way you're not used to. It's a different noise, a different everything.

And you keep repeating the same words in the beginning. Most people start with just a few words. As you continue to use it, your ability to express more of it expands. So don't worry in the beginning if it feels awkward, and don't worry if you feel you're only repeating the same words. As you spend time in intimacy with the Spirit, as you spend time praying in tongues, you will start feeling how it expands, and expands, and expands.

So the first time you want to pray in tongues, you confirm that you are born again, you confirm that you are filled with the Spirit, and then you simply say, “Thank You, Holy Spirit, for the ability to pray in tongues.” Then you open your mouth and start praying, start speaking. And so what if you don't get it right the first time? I mean, if I say “get it right” – just allow yourself to express it, because, as I've said, having prayed with people for a number of years, the majority just pray in tongues immediately because they have that desire.

I always say our spirit was designed to know the truth. Your spirit knows this is from God. You get to a point where it starts overwriting all those wrong beliefs, the negative experiences, wherever you may have been hurt. Your spirit starts overriding that, because your spirit has a desire for God, for more of God, and it recognises truth. So your spirit responds to it, and you will simply start praying in tongues. So if you have that desire, and you respond to that desire, you will have the ability to pray in tongues.

Now, the first time that you pray in tongues, I find with most people that it is easier for them to pray with somebody to start praying in tongues. It just stirs up their belief, and to hear somebody else praying in tongues will actually stir their belief. I know of many people that were either on their own at home, or next to a campfire, or I even know of one of my friends that was in a tent, and he just had this desire and said, "God, I want to experience this." At that stage he just responded, and he started praying in tongues.

So you don't need somebody there. It's not like somebody has the special gift to allow you to pray in tongues, but it helps to stir. Even when you are on your own, you just confirm you are born again, you are filled with the Spirit, and you say, "Thank you, Holy Spirit, for the ability to pray in tongues." I normally recommend that people put on worship music, so that it makes it easier – your spirit just responds to it more easily. Put on worship music, say, "Thank you, Holy Spirit, for the ability to pray in tongues," and then in faith you respond to it and you start praying in tongues.

Now, one of the questions that people often have is, "I don't know what I'm saying." And I always say, you are spot on.

“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.”

1 Corinthians 14:14 (NKJV)

So you are not going to understand. It's consistent with the Word that you will not understand what you are saying. When it talks about not understanding, you also have to realise it means you will not have understanding that this noise I make corresponds to that word – every noise translated into my understanding of what I just prayed. It will not be like that.

But that does not mean you would not know what you are praying, and it can work both ways. Sometimes when you pray in tongues, you will just pray, and you will get a conviction in your spirit that this is actually what you are praying for. So you'll know what you're praying for, but not what the specific words mean. It's not always like that though – the opposite is also true: you can decide, "I'm going to pray in tongues for this specific topic," and then you start praying in tongues. You don't know what the individual words mean, but you can have that conviction in your spirit that you are praying for that particular topic. It is as if it is moving you into the spiritual realm.

That is the significant thing that changed my life ten or eleven years ago, when somebody prayed with me to start praying in tongues. That is the single thing that actually changed my life, because then I experienced the ability of the Holy Spirit as a reality, and the ability to express it. Through that it positioned me in a different place, where if I were to pray, it was as if for the first time I actually had a two-way conversation with the Lord. Like I could hear His voice, like I could sense the desires of His heart, and I could respond to it.

Often when I pray in tongues – and this was right at the beginning of my journey, when I didn't know the Bible very well – I would actually see certain verses come up in my spirit, and I would write them down, and it would be exactly the thing I was praying about, and I didn't even know there was Scripture that addressed that. That is an amazing thing, and it relates again to Acts 1:8 and Romans 8:26-28, where we are allowing the Holy Spirit to be the force, the ability and the guidance that actually guides how I'm praying, what I'm praying for, and the impact of that.

I touched on one or two aspects about why some people struggle to pray in tongues. It's maybe worthwhile mentioning one or two more. I already said it's the belief system in which they grew up and the exposure they had. If you've never had exposure to somebody praying in tongues, it's a foreign concept, and you just don't agree with it in principle because you've never seen anybody do it.

One of the other reasons I've experienced in the past, and that the Spirit has shown me when I prayed with some people who struggled to pray in tongues, is that people sometimes struggle because they do not feel worthy. Often when people have a certain background of sin and things they did that were wrong, and they're still condemning themselves about those sins and that sinful lifestyle, because of that condemnation they don't have the freedom to allow themselves to pray in tongues.

One of the other reasons I've already explained before is that people wait for the Holy Spirit to come and take over and do something through them, whereas it's an ability that's inside of you, and you must express that ability. I hope that explains a few things concerning misconceptions and lies from Satan.

You can always be sure that something this controversial has significant spiritual power in it. I can assure you it has significant spiritual power – that's why there are these contradictions and issues going on about it. If you purely look at the Word of God, you will see that if you have the Spirit of God, you have the ability to pray in tongues, which is different from speaking in tongues. If you have that desire, express that desire.

Just pray and receive Jesus Christ as your Saviour, ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Just say, "Thank you, Holy Spirit, for the ability to pray in tongues," and then in faith you open your mouth and, in inverted commas, you start speaking. You allow the Holy Spirit to start speaking through you. If you want to do it with somebody who already prays in tongues, it might be easier, but you can do it on your own as well.

Once you have that ability, you need to understand that's not where it ends. It's a powerful ability, and that's the ability to express the power of the Holy Spirit. When you pray in tongues, you are allowing the Holy Spirit to express His power through you. So express that ability – in faith, respond to it, and just start praying in tongues. But once you actually do it, it is, in inverted commas, only a tool. Let's not make it this be-all and end-all, this superior thing. Having said that, it is a powerful tool, and believe me, you want to use it. Once you have that ability, it doesn't help you just to tick the box and say, "Ah, I prayed in tongues."

It's something that you must use. You will often find – I don't know how long you can actually continue to pray in your understanding. When you are on your own and you intercede, how long can you pray in your understanding? There comes a point where you don't know what to pray for, who to pray for, or what to say anymore.

But when you pray in tongues, it is totally different. You can continue for hours without ever feeling that you are repeating yourself or don't know what to say, because the Holy Spirit continues to reveal more and more and impact. It's like this experience of functioning in the spiritual realm and impacting the spiritual realm through that.

So once you actually do it, it is something you should use as a tool. Go into your room, close the door, pray in tongues. It doesn't have to be a thing where you offend other people. You don't have to prove anything. You don't have to prove the Word of God. You don't have to prove God. Just respond to your conviction and your ability, and pray in tongues. If it offends people, the Word is also clear on that.

Whatever offends other people, don't do it in front of them. So you can also pray in tongues quietly, so that nobody even hears. Once you start praying in tongues, you will realise many people who pray in tongues will do it while they're driving in the car, when they're on their own, or in certain situations – in business meetings, just before you walk into that meeting, you're just praying in tongues – and it's acknowledging the presence of the Lord. It's acknowledging the ability of the Holy Spirit. It's expressing your desire to function in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, which is beyond your own ability.

It's not about manipulating anything or trying to prove something. It is just a desire to use any possible tool to allow God to express Himself through us, to impact this world, to establish His kingdom, and that is certainly what praying in tongues can do.

I've repeated myself a lot during this recording, but it's just things I want to get across. I really have a passion and a desire, and I'm bold about it because it changed my life.

If something changed your life significantly, would you just keep it to yourself? Would you just be quiet about it, just be complacent about it? When you know what people are saying are lies, when you know it is not true, it's not consistent with the Word of God, and it's not consistent with my experience. I've prayed with so many people to pray in tongues, and the majority of them will pray in tongues – ninety-five per cent of them will just pray in tongues instantly. The other five per cent are not less important, less significant, or didn't receive the gift.

They just have to overcome one of those issues, and it's quick to overcome. You use the Word of God, you confess your sins, you understand who God made you to be, and when you respond to that, you allow the Holy Spirit. And even if you have to try a few times, then so what? It's not the end of it. Let's not make it this big issue. So I'm passionate about it because it is significant.

So to summarise: you need to be born again, you need to be filled with the Spirit of God, and you can do that on your own. You just pray and accept Jesus as your Lord and be filled with the Spirit.

Then you have the ability to pray in tongues, full stop. That's different from the gift of speaking in tongues, which is the prophetic gift. Go read 1 Corinthians 14:14 – you'll clearly see it's about praying in tongues. Once you've got it, it's a powerful tool. Use it to effect change – the Acts 1:8 power, the dunamis power, to effect change, and then you will see.

Maybe you've had a desire before to actually intercede, because we need to stand in the gap for other people. It's not all about ourselves and our desires, praying so that God just does everything we want in our lives. No. He has called us to stand in the gap, to intercede for others, to intercede for the kingdom beyond denominations, beyond our own kingdoms. There's only one kingdom, and it's manifesting Christ and His presence in this earth. Let us use this, which is one of the tools, one of the abilities of the Holy Spirit, to help us establish that.

I trust that you have been helped by this. If you have any questions, I'll leave a link with all the verses that I referred to, and a link to the website as well, and you are welcome to contact us, and we'll be able to assist further.

Have a blessed day.