Glossia

For review, in the first article, we saw that the New Testament seems to distinguish three types of tongues:

1. A declaration in a known foreign language that the speaker had not learned.

2. A declaration in an unknown heavenly tongue that needs to be interpreted in a public setting.

3. A believer speaking in tongues in his or her personal, born-again spirit for the purpose of intimate communion with God.

It is this third type, personal tongues, that we will discuss here, albeit in only two points.

Why speak in tongues personally?

Point 1: Personal Tongues is a Doorway for You to Grasp God's Counsel and Understanding in Your Natural Mind

1 Corinthians 14:13 reads, “For let those who speak in a tongue pray that he may interpret.” (For himself to understand the tongue in his own language).

1 Corinthians 14:15 reads, “I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the understanding.” (In order to intentionally find natural understanding of what I am praying in a mystery)

Proverbs 24:5-6 reads, “A wise man is strong, yes a man of knowledge increases strength. For by wise counsel (I add, of the Spirit in you) you will wage YOUR OWN WAR.”

We all have our own personal wars. No one else on this earth can wage them for us. Yes, we can get the help of the body, but there comes a time when you realize it's you and God fighting this personal battle (your own war). You need His personal knowledge and counsel to not just maintain your strength, but to increase your strength. That increased strength comes through His revelation to you, and one of the greatest ways to draw on that strength is to pray in tongues and ask the Spirit for His interpretation in your natural understanding. 

I personally find that this natural understanding of what you prayed in the Spirit may not come instantly or even on the day that you are praying in the Spirit. But a wisdom from above does come eventually, which can be traced back to praying in the Spirit.

Point 2: Praying in Personal Tongues is an Apostolic Foundation

The Lord wants to build up His spiritual authority on the earth. He has chosen to partner with us in this task. The apostle Paul declared an amazing personal statement about his prayer life in 1 Corinthians 14:18: "I thank my God I speak in tongues more than you all." 

Whatever the arguments and discussions about tongues are around in our generation, Paul zealously guarded this gift. He had a very sobering call on his life, and he instinctively understood he could not fulfill that call in his own natural strength. Apparently, in His seeking of the Lord for supernatural help, he discovered the treasure of a personal prayer language. You can almost hear him shouting to the Corinthian church: "Whatever your controversy or misuse of this is, I use this gift more than you all!" 

We must all acknowledge that Paul's life was an apostolic model for us all. Philippians 3:17 reads, “Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.” 1 Corinthians 4:16 reads, “Therefore I urge you, imitate me.” 1 Corinthians 11:1-2 reads, “Imitate me just as I also imitate Christ. Now I praise you brethren, that you REMEMBER ME IN ALL THINGS,  and KEEP THE TRADITIONS JUST AS I DELIVERED THEM TO YOU. The Amplified Bible interprets the traditions as "the substance of my instructions."

Paul's life modeled and taught us heavenly instructions. We would be wise to pay attention to this apostolic pattern that God used to shake the known world with authoritative preaching and demonstration of signs and wonders.

In the Passion Translation, 1 Timothy 1:16 reads, “Yet I (Paul) was captured by grace, so that Jesus Christ could display through me the outpouring of His Spirit as A PATTERN TO BE SEEN, for all those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”

Paul understood that his life and ministry were a pattern not just for his generation but for all of us who would believe in Jesus for eternal life throughout the ages. The idea that tongues ceased with the completion of the Biblical pattern is false. The devil has tried to hide this treasure from the Church. I wonder if Paul understood that and declared his understanding that his life was to be a pattern for us all. 

Years ago, I heard a story of how Larry Lea, one of the main prayer leaders of the 1980's, accompanied Oral Roberts to the top floor of the prayer tower at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Oral explained to Larry that the huge campus was primarily built by Oral praying in tongues, interpreting it for his own understanding, and then obeying those impressions from the Lord. Larry said, "Lay your hands on me!" What a great practical model for us all as we build the Kingdom together.