Latest / The Father's Business Podcast / Prayer Unfiltered: Praying in the Spirit: Does it Always Mean Speaking in Tongues?

Transcript

Prayer Unfiltered: Praying in the Spirit: Does it Always Mean Speaking in Tongues? · The Father's Business Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Welcome back, everybody, to the Father's Business Podcast and our series Prayers, Unfiltered, Honest Questions About Talking with God.
0:08
SPEAKER_00: Today we're going to talk about a subject that creates an enormous amount of confusion, sometimes pressure, curiosity, sometimes even fear among Christians.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean to pray in the spirit?
0:20
SPEAKER_00: Does praying in the spirit mean speaking in tongues?
0:22
SPEAKER_00: Is speaking in tongues still for today?
0:24
SPEAKER_00: Is it something every Christian should do?
0:27
SPEAKER_00: And what if you've been told that you must speak in tongues, but the whole thing feels forced and wrong?
0:33
SPEAKER_00: We've received a lot of emails asking us to talk about praying in the spirit and the gift of tongues.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: Many of those emails included stories of people being told they had to speak in tongues, and it led them to feel confused or ashamed when they didn't.
0:46
SPEAKER_00: Most of the emails included a phrase that said, Some say it's not for today, some say it's just Babel, other people say it's a gift from the Spirit and it's powerful, and I just want to understand what is true.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: This topic has caused a lot of confusion for people.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: Christians who deeply love Jesus, honor scripture, and desire to hear from the Holy Spirit have drawn very different conclusions about this topic.
1:08
SPEAKER_00: Some Christians believe the miraculous gifts described in the New Testament were primarily signs connected to the apostles and the founding of the early church, and they believe that they ceased.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: Other Christians believe all the gifts of the Holy Spirit continue to operate today as the Spirit chooses to distribute them.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: Within charismatic traditions, there are also different beliefs.
1:27
SPEAKER_00: Some churches teach that speaking in tongues is the initial physical evidence that someone has been baptized in the Holy Spirit.
1:34
SPEAKER_00: Other churches believe tongues are available today, but do not believe that everyone will receive that particular gift.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: Some distinguish between the public gift of tongues and a private prayer language.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: And we're not here to resolve any of these denominational disagreements in one podcast today, but we can look carefully at what scripture actually says and doesn't say and where we as Christians need to give each other grace.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: So I want today to just feel like a conversation.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: Like if you came to me and said, Can we have coffee?
2:04
SPEAKER_00: And I'm just sitting across the table from you and we're having this conversation.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: So before we begin looking at passages, I want to acknowledge that believers from many different church backgrounds listen to this podcast, and you may already have a firm conviction about tongues and praying in the spirit, or you may still be trying to understand what you believe.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: And everyone is welcome here.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: Some of you come from charismatic traditions where speaking in tongues has been a meaningful and life-giving part of your relationship with God.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: You may believe that every believer can receive a personal prayer language or that tongues are closely connected with the baptism in the Holy Spirit and possibly salvation.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: Others come from traditions that believe tongues and some of the other miraculous gifts were given primarily for the foundation of the early church.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: We have people from both sides that listen to our podcast.
2:58
SPEAKER_00: And those of you that come from a more traditional background may be concerned that modern practices don't resemble what you see in scripture.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: Some of you may have no personal experience with tongues at all.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: You have not spoken in tongues, you haven't been around someone who's spoken in tongues, and others may have felt pressured to speak in tongues, been coached to produce certain sounds, or made to feel that you were resisting the Holy Spirit if you couldn't do it.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: And that kind of pressure can leave a person confused, ashamed, and even afraid of getting something wrong spiritually.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: And that is my heart behind this.
3:36
SPEAKER_00: We know there will be places in this conversation where listeners from each of these backgrounds are going to want to push back.
3:42
SPEAKER_00: At the Father's business, our purpose is not to caricature anyone's beliefs or settle every disagreement between Christian traditions that have been going on for years.
3:52
SPEAKER_00: We want to look honestly at biblical passages and distinguish what scripture clearly says from conclusions that have been drawn by Christians of different backgrounds and offer a safe place for people to ask sincere questions.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: That's the whole point of this podcast series.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: At the heart of the Father's business is a desire to encourage every believer, regardless of church background, into a deeper, more intimate relationship with God.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: So we can approach this subject with both openness and discernment, and we do not have to dismiss every experience we have not personally had, and we do not have to accept every every spiritual claim without testing it.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: We can remain grounded in scripture, centered in Jesus, and gracious towards believers who reach different conclusions from us.
4:43
SPEAKER_00: So let me begin with what I believe is the most important thing our listeners need to hear for all the ones who send us questions.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: You did not fail God because you did not speak in tongues.
4:53
SPEAKER_00: Speaking in tongues is not a requirement for salvation.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: It is not proof that God loves someone more if they do.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: It's not proof that someone is more mature, more surrendered, more spiritual, or more filled with the Holy Spirit than another believer.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: And no one should pressure you to manufacture an experience in order to prove that you have faith.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: What may have felt wrong to you was not necessarily the possibility of the gift itself.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: What may have felt wrong was the pressure, the performance, the expectation that you had to make something happen.
5:27
SPEAKER_00: It's a gift.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: We don't perform for gifts or we shouldn't.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: You do not have to reject everything connected with tongues simply because someone handled the subject poorly.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: But neither do you have to go back into an environment of pressure to prove that you're open to God.
5:43
SPEAKER_00: I've been there.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: We can remain open to the Holy Spirit without being manipulated by people, even if they're very well-intentioned people that want you to have everything that might be yours in Jesus.
5:56
SPEAKER_00: So what does the Bible say about tongues?
5:58
SPEAKER_00: Let's begin looking at some passages that actually speak about it.
6:03
SPEAKER_00: In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, the followers of Jesus were gathered together when the Holy Spirit came upon them.
6:10
SPEAKER_00: Acts 2, 4 says, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
6:19
SPEAKER_00: People from different regions were gathered in Jerusalem, and verse 6 says, And when this sound rang out, a crowd came together in bewilderment because each one heard them speaking his own language.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: In this particular event, the people listening recognized actual languages.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: They heard the followers of Jesus declaring the wonders of God in their own native tongue.
6:42
SPEAKER_00: This was a powerful sign that the gospel was not going to remain confined to one people, one nation, or one language.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: The good news of Jesus was going to everyone, to all the nations.
6:53
SPEAKER_00: So tongues appears again in Acts 10 when the gospel is received by Gentiles in the home of Cornelius.
7:01
SPEAKER_00: Acts 10, 44 to 46 says, While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard his message.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: All the circumcised believers who were accompanying Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and exalting God.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: So here, tongues served as a visible sign to Peter and the Jewish believers that God had truly welcomed Gentiles into the covenant family.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: So this spirit was not being given only to Jewish believers.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: Tongues appears again in Acts 19, when Paul meets a group of disciples in Ephesus who had only received John's baptism.
7:43
SPEAKER_00: After Paul explained the gospel more fully and laid hands on them, they speak in tongues and they prophesy.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: These events are real.
7:50
SPEAKER_00: We should not dismiss or explain them away simply because they don't fit our experience.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: But we also need to notice that the book of Acts does not say that every person who receives the Holy Spirit or becomes a believer in Jesus spoke in tongues.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: There are many accounts of people believing, being baptized, receiving the Spirit, and following Jesus without tongues being mentioned.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: So we should not turn a description of something God did in particular moments into a requirement that Scripture itself does not give.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: So then we start to look at 1 Corinthians.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: Paul's fullest teaching about tongues is found in 1 Corinthians 12 through 14.
8:30
SPEAKER_00: The church in Corinth had many spiritual gifts, but it also had a whole lot of problems.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: It had division, competition, immaturity, disorder.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Some believers appear to be treating certain gifts as evidence of a greater spirituality than the people around them.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: So Paul comes to remind them that all gifts come from the same Holy Spirit.
8:52
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 12, 4 to 7 says, There are different gifts, but the same Spirit.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: There are different ministries, but the same Lord.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: Notice that phrase, for the common good.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: Spiritual gifts are not given as badges or medals proving that we are special.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: They are expressions of God's grace given so that we can serve and strengthen each other, the body of Christ.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: Then Paul says in verse 11, all these are the works of one and the same spirit who apportions them to each one as he determines.
9:35
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit determines how the gifts are distributed.
9:39
SPEAKER_00: We do not assign gifts to ourselves, we do not have to produce them, we don't get to tell another believer which gift they have to possess.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: Near the end of the chapter, Paul asks a series of questions.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: Are all apostles?
9:54
SPEAKER_00: Are all prophets?
9:55
SPEAKER_00: Are all teachers?
9:56
SPEAKER_00: Do all work miracles?
9:58
SPEAKER_00: Do all have gifts of healing?
10:00
SPEAKER_00: Do all speak in tongues?
10:02
SPEAKER_00: Do all interpret?
10:03
SPEAKER_00: And the expected answer to all of those questions is no.
10:07
SPEAKER_00: They're rhetorical questions.
10:09
SPEAKER_00: Not every believer has the same function or the same spiritual gift.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: Some charismatic traditions distinguish between the public gift of tongues mentioned here and a private prayer language that they believe may be available to every believer.
10:22
SPEAKER_00: I understand that distinction, and there are sincere Christians who hold it.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: However, scripture still never directly commands every Christian to speak in tongues.
10:32
SPEAKER_00: It does not say that tongues are required for salvation, and it does not give us permission to use tongues as a test of another person's relationship with God.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: And that is at the heartbeat of all the questions we got on this topic.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: So is speaking for tongues today?
10:48
SPEAKER_00: Here's where I land.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: I'm open to the gift of tongues being active.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: I do not believe Scripture gives a clear reason to declare that the Holy Spirit can no longer give the gift.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 14, 39 to 40 says, So my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues, but everything must be done in a proper and orderly manner.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: And I don't want to forbid something Scripture tells us is not to be forbidden.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: But much like we talked about submitted authority in prayer and declaration prayers, I think we need to be mindful of the same mindset here.
11:23
SPEAKER_00: Because I also don't want to command something Scripture does not command.
11:27
SPEAKER_00: That means I leave room for the Holy Spirit while refusing pressure, manipulation, competition, and spiritual performance.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: I believe some Christians have genuinely received the gift of tongues and use it with humility and gratitude.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: I also believe that human emotion, imitation, social pressure, and the desire to belong can sometimes get mixed into those spiritual environments.
11:51
SPEAKER_00: And that possibility should not make us cynical about every spiritual gift, but it should also make us discerning.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: The answer is not to believe everything that happens in a spiritual setting is really of God.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: And the answer is not to assume that everything unfamiliar must be false.
12:08
SPEAKER_00: We test what we experience by scripture, by the character of Jesus, by the fruit it produces, and by whether it builds up the body of Christ.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: Now thinking back to those people who have emailed us, their common phrase was, I felt pressured, I was afraid, I felt ashamed.
12:27
SPEAKER_00: Those don't sound like the fruit of the spirit to me.
12:29
SPEAKER_00: So it may not be a question of whether the gift and a desire to have the gift is wrong.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: It may be that God's kids somehow got a little too enthusiastic, had a little skewed theology, and tried to pressure something that God wants to give freely, lovingly, graciously to who he chooses to give it to.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul acknowledges that tongues can be directed towards God.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: Verses 2 and then and 4 it says, For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: Instead, no one understands him, he utters mysteries in the spirit.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: And the one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but the one who prophesies edifies the church.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: Paul does not say that the gift is meaningless or evil.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: He says that without interpretation, when done in public, people can't understand what's being said.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: And I believe this is where the instruction comes about having a private prayer language versus what is done in public.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: And the instruction comes in 1 Corinthians 14, 27 and 28, where it says, if anyone speaks in a tongue, two or at least three should speak in turn and someone must interpret.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: But if there is no interpreter, he should remain silent in the church and speak only to himself and God.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: Paul's concern is not that the gift should be suppressed.
13:54
SPEAKER_00: His concern is that worship strengthens the whole church and reflects the peace and order of God.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: So Paul is saying losing control and chaos is not a sign that something comes from the Holy Spirit.
14:06
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit does not need confusion to prove his presence.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: There is an order to God's kingdom.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: Spiritual gifts can operate with humility, discernment, self-control, and concern for the people around us.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: First Corinthians 14, 15 says, What then shall I do?
14:23
SPEAKER_00: I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind.
14:26
SPEAKER_00: I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: And that is such a beautiful picture of what we talk about here at the Father's Business.
14:35
SPEAKER_00: We are a three-part being, spirit, soul, and body.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: The spirit and the mind are not enemies.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit does not require us to turn off our minds so that He can work through us.
14:46
SPEAKER_00: He can engage our human spirit, our understanding, our thoughts, our emotions, our will, and even our bodies in prayer.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: There may be moments when someone prays beyond their intellectual understanding.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: There may also be moments when the Spirit brings a clear scripture, thought, name of God, or specific request to mind.
15:04
SPEAKER_00: Both can be deeply spiritual.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: So kind of the central question that comes along with this is does praying in the spirit always mean tongues?
15:13
SPEAKER_00: I do not believe that the phrases are identical.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: Speaking in tongues may be one way.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: Some believers pray under the influence of the Holy Spirit, but praying in the Spirit is much broader than speaking in tongues.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: There are two passages that specifically tell believers to pray in the Spirit.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: The first is found in Ephesians 6.18.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: It says, Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.
15:41
SPEAKER_00: Notice that Paul says with every kind of prayer and petition.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: That would include worship, confession, thanksgiving, intercession, lament, petitions, scripture prayers, silent prayers are ordinary words spoken honestly to God.
15:59
SPEAKER_00: All of those are types of prayer.
16:01
SPEAKER_00: Jude 20 and 21 says, But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in the most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: Both Ephesians and Jude are speaking to believers generally.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: But Paul has already said that not every believer has the same spiritual gifts and asks, do all speak in tongues?
16:27
SPEAKER_00: To which the answer is no.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: If all believers are told to pray in the spirit, but not all believers speak in tongues, then praying in the spirit cannot be limited to speaking in tongues.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: Praying in the spirit means praying in fellowship with, dependence upon, and responsiveness to the Holy Spirit.
16:46
SPEAKER_00: It means allowing the Spirit to lead, shape, empower, and align our prayers with the heart and purposes of God.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the Spirit may bring a person or situation to your mind.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes he may remind you of a scripture.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes he may convict you of your own wrong motives, even in the midst of you praying for someone else.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes he may lead us to stop asking for one thing and begin praying from a deeper place.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes he may give us language, and sometimes he may lead us in silence.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we may have no idea what to say at all.
17:21
SPEAKER_00: And that's where we come back to Romans 8, which we've talked about in a previous podcast.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: Romans 8, 26 and 27 says, in the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: Some people connect these groanings with speaking in tongues.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: That is one possible interpretation, but the passage does not explicitly call the groanings tongues.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: The emphasis of Romans 8 is not that we must find a special prayer language.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: The emphasis is that nothing can separate us from the love of God and that the Holy Spirit helps us when we are weak and we do not know how to pray.
18:10
SPEAKER_00: The Spirit is not waiting for us to pray perfectly.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: I love that I can just show up with nothing more than a groan.
18:17
SPEAKER_00: And he is already present, helping me, carrying me, translating and interceding according to the will of God on my behalf.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: That can happen when we pray in tongues.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: It can happen when we pray in ordinary words.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: It can happen when all I can do is sit and cry.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: It can happen when I sit silently before God because grief and fear and exhaustion have taken away the ability for me to say anything more than, Lord, help me.
18:45
SPEAKER_00: The spirit is not limited by my vocabulary or yours.
18:49
SPEAKER_00: So what does praying in the spirit look like?
18:52
SPEAKER_00: At the Father's Business, we talk a lot about spirit, soul, and body, and your human spirit was created for communion with God.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit can speak to your spirit in ways that your soul and your body may not fully understand.
19:05
SPEAKER_00: And the Holy Spirit can awaken your spirit to all of who God is and who you are in Him.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: We use our minds, our desires, our emotions to bring truth of what we're feeling to God and allow it to come into agreement with God.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: And our bodies also participate in prayer.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: We speak, we kneel, we stand, we lift hands, we cry, we become still, we take a deep breath.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: There are many ways that our bodies are involved in prayer, but no particular emotion, sound, posture, physical response proves that the Holy Spirit is more present.
19:40
SPEAKER_00: Praying in the Spirit may feel powerful and emotional, or it may feel quiet and grounded and ordinary.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: You may be washing dishes when the name of a friend suddenly comes to your mind and you pause to pray for them.
19:53
SPEAKER_00: I believe that is praying in the spirit because the spirit is prompting you to pray.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: You might be reading a psalm when one sentence seems to name exactly what's happening in your heart.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: That is the spirit moving through the word of God.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: You might be praying for God to change another person and all of a sudden that sneaky conviction comes that actually the person who needs to change is you because you're holding unforgiveness against them.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: You might use a written prayer and suddenly recognize the words are much more alive than you thought.
20:23
SPEAKER_00: Or you might just sit there and say, Holy Spirit, help me.
20:27
SPEAKER_00: And that is probably one of the most profound and deep prayers you can pray.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: All of that can be prayer in the spirit.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: The presence of the spirit is not measured by the volume in the room, the intensity of the emotion, or the experience.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the Holy Spirit moves with power that is unmistakable.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes he moves with a quiet, still, small voice that is easily overlooked.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: We can pray in the spirit with our mouths, with our human spirits, and with written words.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: Some people assume that praying in the spirit must be spontaneous, but the Holy Spirit can work through words that were written in your journal yesterday or over 2,000 years ago in Scripture.
21:08
SPEAKER_00: The Psalms are written prayers.
21:10
SPEAKER_00: Jesus gave his disciple a prayer to pray.
21:12
SPEAKER_00: The early church prayed from scripture together.
21:15
SPEAKER_00: A prayer does not become lifeless merely because it's written down.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: It becomes lifeless when our heart disengages and we are merely performing.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: And if I can be really honest, we can also be disengaged and merely performing in a spontaneous moment.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: So you can pray scripture with your mind fully engaged and your spirit responsive to the Holy Spirit.
21:38
SPEAKER_00: You can pray spontaneously while remaining completely disconnected from the Spirit.
21:42
SPEAKER_00: Both can be true.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: The issue is not written versus spontaneous, the issue is dependence, truth, relationship, and responsiveness to God.
21:52
SPEAKER_00: So how do we discern the spirit's leading?
21:54
SPEAKER_00: We need discernment, people, because not every strong emotion, sudden thought, or spiritual.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Spiritual sounding impression comes from the Holy Spirit.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: First, the Spirit's promptings will be consistent with Scripture and with the character of Jesus.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit will not lead us in pride, manipulation, dishonesty, or any behavior that contradicts with the nature of Jesus.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: Second, the Spirit's work produces fruit.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: We all are familiar with Galatians 5, which describes the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: A spiritual experience that consistently produces fear, pressure, chaos, condemnation, or a feeling that those around you are superior to you should be carefully examined.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: Ask God what is true.
22:47
SPEAKER_00: And third, the spirit's leading can be tested and should be.
22:51
SPEAKER_00: We should be cautious whenever anyone says the Holy Spirit told me as a way of ending every question or avoiding people asking questions about what they believe.
23:01
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit is not threatened by humility.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: We can say I believe the Spirit may be showing me this, but I want to test it through scripture, through prayer, through wise counsel and time.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: The Spirit is used to build up the body of Christ.
23:17
SPEAKER_00: Spiritual gifts are given for the common good, not to create spiritual celebrities or classes of superior Christians.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: So if you find yourself in an environment where people are more celebrated if they openly speak in tongues, I would ask questions.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: The goal of the Spirit is to glorify Jesus.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: It's not to become fascinated with an experience, it is to point us to God.
23:42
SPEAKER_00: So the question remains: is speaking in tongues a more powerful way of praying?
23:47
SPEAKER_00: There are ministries out there that teach that tongues are the most powerful form of prayer, that the enemy cannot understand them, or that speaking in tongues guarantees that we are praying in the perfect will of God, because they base that on Romans 8 and the idea that groanings are interpreted by the Holy Spirit according to the will of God.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: Scripture does not clearly make that claim.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: To be perfectly clear, Romans 8 says the Holy Spirit intercedes according to the will of God, but it does not identify the groanings of the Spirit exclusively as tongues.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: The power of prayer is not located in a particular vocabulary, technique, volume, posture, or spiritual gift.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: The power belongs to God.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: Tongues should not become a spiritual formula any more than ending every prayer in a particular phrase or all the many different things we've talked about in this series.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: The ways we've tried to show you, prayer is not a formula.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: It is a relationship.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: For someone who has genuinely received the gift, praying in tongues may be a meaningful and strengthening part of their relationship with God, leading to deeper intimacy.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: But that does not mean their prayers are automatically more powerful than the prayers of a grieving person who can only whisper, Jesus, help me.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: God is not more impressed by mysterious words than honest dependence.
25:05
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit can lead a beautifully articulated prayer.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: He can lead a prayer in tongues.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: He can lead a child's simple prayer.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: And he can intercede when we can't speak at all.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: There are many ways to pray in the Spirit.
25:21
SPEAKER_00: So what should you do if you're unsure?
25:23
SPEAKER_00: You can remain open about the theology and the idea of speaking in tongues without becoming anxious.
25:30
SPEAKER_00: You can pray something like this Holy Spirit, I welcome everything you desire to give me.
25:36
SPEAKER_00: I do not want to resist you.
25:37
SPEAKER_00: I do not want to manufacture something out of fear or pressure.
25:41
SPEAKER_00: Teach me to recognize your voice.
25:43
SPEAKER_00: Give me whatever gifts you choose and help me use them with humility and wisdom and love and self-control.
25:51
SPEAKER_00: Then you can rest.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: And you don't have to work at it.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to repeat sounds until something happens.
25:57
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to compare yourself with someone else.
26:00
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to prove that you are surrendered because God knows your heart.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit is not frustrated by your honest questions.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: Bring them to him.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: He is our comforter, our guide, our teacher, our helper.
26:13
SPEAKER_00: He is able to lead you without manipulation.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: And should he give you the gift of tongues, you can receive it gratefully, use it humbly, and remain grounded in Scripture and in your church community.
26:25
SPEAKER_00: And if he does not give you that gift, you are not missing a necessary piece of salvation.
26:30
SPEAKER_00: You are not less loved, less filled, or less useful to God.
26:34
SPEAKER_00: The Spirit distributes gifts as he determines.
26:37
SPEAKER_00: Our responsibility is not to possess every gift.
26:41
SPEAKER_00: Our responsibility is to walk faithfully in love with the gifts and grace that God has given us.
26:47
SPEAKER_00: Paul places his teaching about tongues between two great truths, and this is the heart of what I want you to hear.
26:53
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 12 teaches that there are many gifts but one spirit.
26:57
SPEAKER_00: We've read through some of those verses.
26:59
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 13 teaches that without love, even the most impressive spiritual gifts amount to nothing.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: Then 1 Corinthians 14 teaches that spiritual gifts should build up others and operate with wisdom and order.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: That gives us a very healthy framework as we think about the gifts of the Spirit.
27:18
SPEAKER_00: Don't forbid them, don't force them, please don't fake them, don't shame people if they don't have the same gift as you, and don't elevate a gift above love.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: Remain open to the Holy Spirit, grounded in Scripture, centered on Jesus and committed to the good of others, because at its core, any gift of the Spirit was built for us to edify and encourage the body of Christ and grow in our relationship with Him.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: Now, this may be just enough information to make everyone frustrated today.
27:52
SPEAKER_00: As I said at the beginning, I'm not trying to dismantle denominational theology from so many different churches across the board.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: My plea is for us to give each other grace and to not try to fit God into a box.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: I think he knows how to approach each of his sons and daughters.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: He knows what gifts are best for them.
28:12
SPEAKER_00: He knows the timing, the seasons, and the ways that that will happen.
28:16
SPEAKER_00: And if you are one of those people that has found yourself shamed, condemned, thought less than because somehow you're not enough because you don't speak in tongues, I want to be the first one to say, I'm truly sorry that anyone ever made you feel that way.
28:31
SPEAKER_00: That's not God's heart.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: He does not withhold any good gift from his children.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: And I believe if there's a season in your life where that gift will help you edify the body of Christ and will help you deepen your relationship with him in a way that is not happening now, he'll give it to you.
28:49
SPEAKER_00: But a lack of that particular gift does not mean that you are not praying in the spirit.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: So as always, with all of our podcasts and every teaching from every other ministry you hear from, take it back to the word, take it to your father.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: He longs for you to know him.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: He's not trying to hide from you.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: He's not trying to make him hard to understand.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: Now he is complex and other than, and we will never fully understand his ways.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: But when we bring our honest questions to him, he will help us understand through his word exactly what he's trying to teach us.
29:22
SPEAKER_00: So let me end our time with prayer for all of us.
29:25
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, you are our helper and our faithful teacher.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: Thank you that you meet us in our weakness.
29:31
SPEAKER_00: Thank you that when we don't know what to pray, when our thoughts are confused, our words just can't even come out, you're already present and interceding for us according to the heart of the Father.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: Even times when I didn't even think about praying, you're already in there interceding on our behalf.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: So would you give us hearts that are open to you and firmly grounded in the truth?
29:51
SPEAKER_00: Would you give us discernment, wisdom, and freedom?
29:54
SPEAKER_00: For every person who has been wounded, embarrassed, or pressured to feel like they're inferior in some way because they don't speak in tongues, we ask you to lift off the shame and the fear.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: Settle them securely in the truth that they belong to you through Jesus.
30:08
SPEAKER_00: Let them know deeply that they are loved and accepted and welcome in your presence.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: And Father, your family doesn't ask for performance.
30:17
SPEAKER_00: It asks for belief and trust and grace.
30:20
SPEAKER_00: And so we step into those today.
30:22
SPEAKER_00: And for those who have received the gift of tongues, Father, I bless them to steward the gift with humility and gratitude and wisdom and love.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: May every gift you give draw attention to Jesus, strengthen your body, and serve your purposes.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: Forgive us for the ways we have made your gifts a measure of spiritual maturity or worth.
30:40
SPEAKER_00: Forgive us for when we've pressured others to produce an experience.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: Forgive us for our fear or misunderstanding having us dismiss what we don't know or understand and say it's not of you.
30:51
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, teach us what it means to pray in you and with you.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: Awaken our human spirits to deeper communion with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
31:01
SPEAKER_00: Renew our minds, bring our emotions into the safety and rest of your love.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: Align everything of what we are, spirit, soul, and body, in full agreement with you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: And Father, I would pray that when we have words that you would guide them, when we use your scriptures as prayers, that you would breathe fresh life into them.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: When you lead us quietly, would you tune our hearts and our ears and our spirits to hear even the gentlest whisper?
31:29
SPEAKER_00: And when we grieve and we groan and we sit in silence because we don't even know what to pray, would you remind us that you are near and you are interceding on our behalf?
31:40
SPEAKER_00: Father, help us to learn how to pray with our spirits and our minds.
31:44
SPEAKER_00: Deliver us from any striving or manipulation that we try to somehow earn something from you.
31:50
SPEAKER_00: We welcome your presence and your leadership.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: We receive every good gift you choose to give, and we trust that you know exactly what that looks like in each of our lives.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: Would you draw each one of us away from performance, not just in this area, but in all areas of our lives?
32:06
SPEAKER_00: Draw us away from performance and allow us to fall more in love with you and the grace that first set us free.
32:15
SPEAKER_00: Thank you that you are a good Father that gives good gifts.
32:17
SPEAKER_00: You give us yourself.
32:19
SPEAKER_00: The gift of the Holy Spirit is you giving us part of you.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: So I pray, Father, for anything that was said today that does not line up with you or somehow offends a brother or sister in Christ, that you would be the grace that covers that place as we passionately try to seek after you in all things.
32:38
SPEAKER_00: We pray all this in your name.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: Amen.