Test-Sermon

The New King James Version Chapter 1

8 My son, hear the instruction of your father,

And do not forsake the law of your mother;

9 For they will be a graceful ornament on your head,

The New King James Version Chapter 13

13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

Praying in tongues facilitates your intimacy with God.

“For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God…” (1 Corinthians 14:2).

This verse declares praying in tongues is direct communication with God. It is our spirit communicating directly with His Spirit. The following verse bears this out:

“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays…” (1 Corinthians 14:14).

Whenever you and I are praying in tongues, it is our spirit that is doing the praying. When we pray with our understanding in the language we are familiar with, our mind and emotions are involved in that prayer. Certainly this kind of prayer is legitimate. It is just limited. When we are praying in the Spirit, our spirit is speaking to His Spirit.

Praying in tongues edifies us.

“He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself…” (1 Corinthians 14:4).

This may not seem rational but this is exactly what the Word declares. Praying in tongues brings encouragement and strength to our inner man. There are so many challenges we go through in the Christian life that are designed to discourage us, accuse us, weaken us, and tear us down.

There have been so many times I have allowed circumstances, actions, or attitudes by people to cause me to consider being discouraged. As I take time to pray in the Spirit, I begin to receive God’s perspective on the situation. When I see things from His viewpoint everything doesn’t look so bad. I am actually encouraged in the midst of circumstances or situations that have not yet been resolved from the natural standpoint.

Praying in tongues draws up wisdom from your spirit to your mind.

In order to explain this benefit of praying in tongues we need to look at two verses:

“For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries” (1 Corinthians 14:2). “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7).

The first verse tells us when we are praying in the Spirit we are speaking mysteries. The second verse tells us we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. When connecting these two verses, we see clearly that praying in other tongues is praying up the wisdom of God from our spirit so that it might water our mind. That wisdom is hidden for us, not from us. It is hidden in our spirit. When we pray in the Spirit, we are praying out and praying up those mysteries of God’s wisdom He has deposited in our spirit at the new birth.

To access this wisdom requires us to live a life of dependence upon the Holy Spirit rather than leaning to our understanding or rationale.

One specific time, I needed wisdom about a 20-acre piece of property our church owned. We had received a large offer for it, but the question the elders and I were praying about was it the will of God to sell it or keep it to build on later. I had been praying and had not heard anything specific on this.

I kept praying in the Spirit, and the day before we had to give an answer to the buyer, God’s wisdom came to me. He let me know He had already placed the desire in my heart regarding this and He did not need to speak to me about this in any other way. His wisdom for me was He trusted me to follow the desire in my heart He had planted there. He also let me know this was the primary way He would lead me.

This was very liberating wisdom God gave me that day. We decided to sell the property, pay off our indebtedness on our youth building, sow into other ministries, and purchase another piece of property that would serve our vision that was much less than the property we sold.

Praying in tongues builds up our faith.

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 20).

This is a very important and powerful benefit of praying in other tongues. The things we are in faith about come to us by hearing from God.

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).

Once we hear from the Lord about a portion of His will and plan for our lives, we must respond to that and align ourselves with what He has said. The will of God is not automatic. Everything we hear from God has the potential of tearing down the devil’s kingdom. So he will do all he can to stop us. The reality is, he cannot stop us unless we move our focus off what God has spoken to us and on people, circumstances, and problems he is using to hinder us. Praying in the Spirit is helpful to keep our focus on the main things—on what God has said to us.

Praying in tongues keeps us in the love of God.

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God…” (Jude 20-21).

Another great benefit of praying in tongues is it is helpful to keep us in the love of God. If we stay in faith and in love, we cannot be defeated. The enemy knows this. Therefore, he will do all he can to distract us with the carnality and immaturity of others, especially Christians. First Corinthians 13:8 tells us, “Love never fails.” If we are experiencing failure in our lives it is usually a love failure.

And let’s face it, the most difficult person to show love to is the sandpaper person in our lives. You know who I am talking about. That person who rubs you the wrong way. At the same time, the Lord is interceding at the right hand of the Father that you, “Allow Him to manifest through you into this person’s life.”

As I pray in the Spirit, I am able to receive God’s heart and perspective toward the person I am not happy with. Praying in tongues is very helpful to keep us in the love of God!

Praying in tongues helps us to draw on the Spirit and pray the perfect will of God.

“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 8:26-27).

Have you ever been in a situation you did not know what or how to pray? I certainly have a number of times. This passage says the Holy Spirit will help us in those times of weakness; those times when we don’t know the best way to pray.

The Greek word for “help” here means to take hold with another. The way the Spirit is going to help us is to take hold with us. Praying in tongues is praying the perfect will of God because your mind and will are not involved at all. There is no opportunity for you to pray a selfish prayer when you pray in the Spirit.

I have been praying in tongues at times when I did not know what or how to pray in English. As I spent time praying in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit let me know what I had been praying and then gave me the understanding to pray out in English. Praise God. He helps our weakness of not knowing what to pray and He downloads to us the perfect prayer to pray with our understanding.

Praying in tongues will bring us into rest.

“For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, ‘This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest.; And, ‘This is the refreshing’; yet they would not hear,” (Isaiah 28:11-12).

This is a clear declaration from God’s Word that He will use tongues to bring us rest and refreshing. So many folks are full of anxiety, dread, and fear. This is not from the Lord. He told us in His Word to “ be anxious for nothing” (Philippians 4:6). Then again He told us, “Let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:1). From my observation of the church, people are troubled and anxious about everything. There is no rest or peace in that state of mind.

In many places in the New Testament we see grace and peace connected: Romans 1:7; First Corinthians 1:3; Second Corinthians 1:2; and Galatians 1:3 are just a few of those references. Grace and peace go together. Whenever we leave peace, we have left grace. That is not to condemn us. This is simply a barometer to help us monitor where we are spiritually. Praying in other tongues is one of the primary ways to keep our minds stayed on Him and bring us into a place of peace, rest, trust, and refreshing!

The New King James Version Chapter 8

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.

27 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.

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.