How I came to speak in tongues.

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I had never desired to “speak in tongues.” I never pursed it in my life. I never put any value in it. I attached no status to it.  I didn’t care about it.  I wanted to say things to people where I knew what I was saying and they knew what I was saying.

I had heard both sides of the issue and rejected both of them outright.  One extreme side asserted that if you “spoke in tongues” you could open yourself up to demonic influences, which I always thought was stupid (the Holy Spirit doesn’t cause you to utter, but demonic spirits will?)  On the other extreme end of spectrum was the doctrine that the only evidence of salvation that counted was “speaking in tongues” (again, equally stupid in light of “They will know you by your love for one another” and “You shall know a tree by its fruits.”)

I ignored the statement by Paul that says, “I’m glad I speak in tongues more than all of you.”  I liked 1 Corinthians 14:14-19 where Paul downplays the importance of speaking in tongues. He said that he would rather speak 5 words that people can understand rather than 10,000 words in tongues.

I didn’t deny that others prayed in tongues, it just wasn’t what I wanted to do.  My only caveat was my statement, “If God wants me to speak in tongues, he’s going to have to do me like Cornelius, and it’s just going to have to ‘fall’ on me.”  Again, watch what you ask for.

I had been praying and fasting regularly for a number of months.  During that time I had a series of dreams (that I won’t go into now.)  One particular night I vividly dreamed that I was at a church building.  My boys were somewhat grown, maybe late teens early 20’s.  Jaron was knelt down at the altar and Eric and Wesley were on either side of me.  I had my hand on Jaron’s back and I was praying for him…in tongues.  I woke up, and when I did, I was still praying in tongues.  I knew this was a dream with meaning and not just (as Scrooge would say) “A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato.” I knew this was from The Lord.

A week later I was sitting in a room at New Life Church with my friend and a couple who prayed for people who were “stuck” with interpersonal issues.  They would pray for issues to be “resolved” in folk’s emotions and spirits.  The couple was talking to my friend and I was there to pray.  In midst of our “session” I felt the Spirit say to my heart, “Now you need to pray in tongues…just like in the dream.”  So I did…for an hour.  I just unhinged my jaw and there it was.  The atmosphere of the room changed and my friend began confessing sins and disclosing hurts.

I’ve been able to pray in tongues ever since.  Most of the times I choose to do it, but on occasion, it’s just something that happens.  I don’t necessarily have chapter and verse for my experience, however, I still hold to: 1 Corinthians 14:14-19 ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. ¹⁶ Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.  ¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. ¹⁹ But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

chris